Mistakes We Can't Erase
by TwizzleBaby945
Summary: Juvia is tired of wondering if her relationship with Gray could ever be more. Feeling rejected, she has a little too much alcohol and what does this result in? Chaos and drama of all sorts.
1. It's Just a Drink, Right?

**A/N:** I have had this idea for a while and I will try to make it my own! Please give me your opinions! Just to be clear, this will be a Gruvia fanfic, but at the same time, Lyon's not really a villain. I understand that some may not like some aspects of this plot, but I think you'll find if you read all the way through that it will not turn out as badly as you think.

If it is, well go ahead and don't read any further after this chap. That is your right after all!

Also, the setting of this is after the Magic Games, and (please keep an open mind!) the whole fight with the dragons never happened. Lyon _did not _give up on Juvia in this.

* * *

She hadn't mean to do it, really. It was an accident she swore.

It was horrible. It made her sick, but she couldn't take back what she'd done. How could she be so careless with someone else's heart? It was the same cruel treatment she had received from Gray.

It all started a lit bit after the magic games. Everyone from Fairy Tail was ecstatic about winning the Magic Games, including Juvia, well, sort of.

But she couldn't deny the struggles she'd endured for the past week. As if unrequited love wasn't bad enough, a love triangle had thrown their relationship out of whack. Things were far more complicated than they needed to be. She loved Gray, and Lyon, well, he loved her. A simple problem, really. Somebody would have to return the love that another had for them. Unfortunately Juvia didn't love him back, and she didn't know if Gray loved her back.

Juvia Lockser, the mage who had been in love for what seemed like, years felt so guilty. She hated that she couldn't enjoy her own guild's amazing victory, but she couldn't help it. Everbody was mingling at the celebration and having a ball. She herself had been in such a high after doing the unison raid with Gray, but after that, it was like nothing had happened. She was hurt, by the one whom she had loved for ages. The one she would love for infinity. The one who had stolen heart from the day she met him.

"Juvia-chan? Is everything alright?" She looked up to see a familiar silver haired ice mage standing over her.

"She's fine." Juvia sighed. "Just a little worn out from the games." Came her excuse. She looked back down and began twiddling her fingers.

"Oh? So I take it you're too tired to dance?" He inquired.

The water mage tried to find Gray with her eyes, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Yes, she's very tired." She said while laying her head down on the table.

"Are you sure you're just tired? Or is something bothering you?" He pushed her to open up.

"Juvia's tired. She promises." What she said was partly true because she was tired, but purposefully left out the other information.

Lyon sighed. "I see. Well, maybe you'd like a drink then?"

She was about to say no, when Juvia realized that she definitely _could_ use a drink. Who wouldn't? After all the work she had done to win Gray's heart, she had nothing to show for it. And seeing that he wasn't going to give up until he got his way with something, she figure it was reasonable. She weighed her options. Have a drink and risk giving Lyon the message that she wanted him to stick around? Or deny the drink and wallow in her own misery? She could just buy herself a drink after he left,. That was what she would do, had she had any money.

"Sure, Juvia could use a drink." Although she hated to admit it, giving in was liberating

"What kind?"

"Surprise me." She replied.

The ice mage left her for a brief moment and returned with two drinks.

"What is this?" She asked him. Juvia wasn't too familiar with alcoholic beverages. She wasn't into drinking as much as say, Cana. The water mage had had a few drinks in her life, but overall it wasn't her area of expertise.

"A Martini." He told her.

She took a sip of the Martini and suddenly her eyes lit up. "Oh! I like this!" She exclaimed.

"You want another one?" Lyon offered.

Juvia took him up on his offer. She downed another one. And another. Before she knew, both were straight up drunk.

"Oh! Lyon I've never had this kind of drink before! It's AMAZING!" She yelled out, a little too loudly. People all over the place were staring at the drunk girl. Lyon, who was a little better at handling alcohol, was slightly embarrassed at her. Before even finishing the cocktail she had in hand, she was already begging for another drink, nearly desperately.

"Juvia wants another."

"Uh…. if I keep paying for your drinks like this, I'll end up flat broke." He explained, looking through his wallet.

"Juvia wants *_hic* _ another drink!"

"Juvia chan sweetheart…. you're a little drunk." He remarked, laughing at her demanding behavior.

"She *_hic* _doesn't care!" She slurred.

The blunette looked over to the silver haired mage sitting beside her, drink in hand. He was looking gorgeous.

"Wow, you look so good." She said, eyeing him from head to toe. His masculine body suddenly looked very tempting to her.

"Thanks! I'd say the same, but I think you already _know_ what my opinion of you is." He grinned.

"Lyon -Sama! *_hic*_ Let's get out of here! I want to go somewhere with you!" She took him by the hand and stood up. Her face was flushed with drunkeness and she nearly fell over when she got up from her seat.

"Juvia, wait….I don't want want… to do anything just because we're drunk." The ice mage, though slightly buzzed, was still sober enough to recognize the consequences of acting in a drunken state.

"Don't be silly! Juvia's always had a small crush on you. She just didn't want you to get in the way of her and Gray-sama, *_hic_*, but it's obvious he doesn't want her. She reached out and hugged the other man.

"Lyon-Sama has always been there for Juvia. She wants to repay him!" She proclaimed excitedly.

Lyon wasn't sure what to think. His rival's girl was drunk and her inhibitions were beyond lowered. She was willing to give him a chance, which was what he had only dreamed of. Looking at the giddy girl, he decided it couldn't hurt anything to go out and have fun with her. After all, Gray hadn't claimed her. They weren't dating, and therefore it wasn't wrong of him. This was what he had _longed_ for. He'd never met a girl like Juvia. She opened his eyes up to what it could really be like to have feelings for someone. But all it had like for him so far, was painful.

He smiled lightly. "Alright Let's go."

Several hours into the night, the two had gone all over town doing whatever the hell they wanted. Now, long story short, they had ended up in a hotel room together.

"Lyon-Sama! I'm so excited! Juvia's never had an experience like this!" She was still drunk, and hell, by now he was too. He spent all his money on more drinks, despite the fact that he knew he couldn't afford to blow his money like that.

"Come here, Juvia-chan." Both sitting on the bed facing each other. She moved closer to him and he leaned in to give her a kiss. For a second, it looked that she was having second thoughts. The blunette stared blankly at him but then opened her mouth.

"You know, I've never had somebody who loved me like this. Juvia's sorry she's ignore you the way Gray-sama has ignored her." He didn't know what to say to that, but he didn't have to. The female mage removed her clothes as quicky as possible and he did the same. The two began the process of foreplay.

And the rest she couldn't remember.

All she knew now was that she had made the biggest mistake of her life. As she slowly tore open the package using her teeth, the water mage's heart pounded and she could feel every thud intensely. She felt sick with anxiety knowing that these next few minutes could be life-altering. Finally she freed the cup from the box and the test strips that came with it. Taking a deep breath, she did what she had to, and set the test on the counter as far away from her as possible. There wasn't much evidence of her being pregnant, really, only a missed period. But she had to be sure.

The night with her and Lyon had been a blur, and after that, things went back to normal between the two of them. Juvia realized there was nothing between them, no feelings whatsoever. He had not contacted her since the Magic Games, either, which told her that he either felt the same, or assumed that she didn't want to see him. Either way, she was relieved that he didn't try to take the relationship any further.

The water mage was ashamed of what had happened that night, but she knew that she could blame no one but herself. If she hadn't taken so many drinks to begin with, she would not have done it. Lyon had been drunk too, but she also knew it was cruel to toy with his heart like that. He had wanted her the way she wanted Gray, and yet she had lead him on, like it didn't matter. Drunk of not, she was disgusted at herself for having moved on from Gray so quickly. But the truth was, she still wasn't sure of his feelings.

Gray had no idea what had happened, and she wanted to make sure it stayed like that. But…. if anything had resulted from her night with Lyon, he would have to know.

Juvia sat on top of her sink counter and leaned against the wall, overwhelmed. The bathroom lights were giving her a head ache, which pounded on her along with her heart. It was two in the morning and she hadn't slept at all. She had fought with herself about taking the test, but finally gave in. She _had _to know. She had to make sure that her missed period did not mean anything. In all of her being, she knew she needed to lift this heavy burden off her chest.

She looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It had been half an hour. Surely the test was ready to be read.

_Please don't read pregnant…please don't read pregnant…. please._

She finally reached for her test, hands shaking. The suspense was killing her. She slowly took the strip out of the water and opened her eyes to read the results.

The strip showed a hot pink coloration. She quickly tossed the strip in the garbage and remained frozen, from shock.

_How could I be pregnant?! Juvia can't be pregnant! _

The love sick blunette had waited for this moment for years. After she had met Gray, she had only longed for this moment even more. Every night her head filled with visions of her and the dark haired man as parents, with a beautiful child. A child that was a perfect mesh between the two of them.

And now the vision was tarnished. All she could think of was having a child that belonged to Lyon, and haunted her.

But never, in her wildest dreams did she think she would get pregnant with Lyon's baby. He was his rival and practically his brother. Her desire was to raise a family with someone she loved, not someone she had a mild attraction to. Sure, he was a good man, but not her true love.

She hated herself for it, but now she was starting to despise him, for what he did to her. She had a baby on the way, and it wasn't Gray's. She would be a mother, but to someone else's child. Deep down , she knew it wasn't his fault. She had to admit though, if he didn't exist this never would've happened.

_What are you thinking Juvia?! This is not Lyon's fault. He was caught up in the moment too._

What did she expect anyways? That he would turn down the person that he had been crazy for? Juvia wondered what she would do if the same had happened to her with Gray.

Although, having absolutely no motivation, she walked over to the guild reluctantly. What she really wanted to do was curl up under covers and not come out, but she didn't want to draw any one's attention. With Fairy Tail, it was impossible not to stir suspicion in her absence. Still, each step felt like a mile to her and suddenly, the two mile walk became ten. Each movement was robotic because she was going to guild almost against her own will.

Before she knew it, she standing in front of Fairy Tail. As she stood there afraid to go in, she heard her long haired best friend call to her.

"What are ya doin stupid? Why are you standing there like a fuckin idiot!?" Gajeel teased her, approaching her from behind.

"Oh, yeah she was just thinking about something." She snapped out of her daze.

"I bet it's that stripper bastard, but whatever, I'm outta here. You can stand there like a retard if you want." He said before entering the guild.

"I'm coming Gajeel-kun." She took one last deep breath and walked in. Gray sitting at his usual table. She didn't know how she was going to tell him, but one thing she did know, was that her life would never be the same.

It was about to make a U-turn, and fast.

**If people hate this, please tell me. I don't want to continue a story that is a dud, although I will be sad :(**


	2. Dissonance

**A/N: **I'm scared as hell that I've butchered the plot and written Juvia (and possibly Gray) out of character. But I view the differences as character development that I think should happen. Here's what I'm thinking; Juvia is a very complex person and so is Gray. Juvia wouldn't normally necessarily react the way she does to him, but she is pregnant with someone else's child. That's bound to make a person act a bit differently. Gray on the other hand is making headway in his own emotional life, but is still having struggles expressing his feelings.

Anyways, I am _ecstatic _about all the reviews I've gotten so far. Critiques and opinions are welcomed greatly, and I will answer questions if asked.

* * *

When she had first learned of her and Lyon's unintended creation several days ago, Juvia had been numb with shock. Now, that numbness had changed into something more along the lines of dread and fear.

The night she had read the test result she had nearly lost the will to live. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes until she saw nothing but sparkles. The emotion was too much for her. She tried to sit down, but it was more like a stumble and fall that left her sitting motionless on the floor. Feeling helpless, the mother-to be remained on the bathroom floor the entire night, staring blankly at the flower patterned wall.

Her life was taking on a new direction without her permission. Unfortunately, it wasn't about her anymore. What ever happened to the distressed water mage, would ultimately happen to her child. The baby's life was her life. Her body belonged to her unborn child.

For the past few days, it was hard to keep her hands away from her belly. It didn't feel like there was anybody in there, all she felt was her flat belly. She knew he or she was too small to feel; but still, how could such a precious life's presence not be noticeable?

She had to remind herself to eat, for the baby's sake. Even in the depressed state she was in, she was still looking out for her. She imagined it was a her because she wanted it to have an identity, and she always _did _want a girl.

Though Juvia was a natural mother at heart, she couldn't bring herself to feel anything towards the baby, yet. It was a random combination of cells to her. It had no name, gender, or face. It was foreign. So she did the best she could to create the image of a real person inside of her.

But still, no attachment.

Admitting this to herself, she resented herself even more. She felt hatred towards Lyon and mixed feelings for Gray, but she had no feelings towards the child. Nothing.

She wanted to love her unconditionally, but that she couldn't do. Not yet, at least.

The more Juvia thought about it, the more she felt trapped. How could one night with somebody change the course of her life? How was she to know that accepting somebody's offer to buy her a drink would lead to this?

Once the baby was born, there was no going back. Parenthood was about to be thrust upon her like a thousand pound weight, and Juvia was no bench presser.

She'd thought about telling Gray first, but it _was_ Lyon's child. It was only fair. She needed to tell him before anyone, but to do that she would have to pay him a visit in person. It was the only right way to go about dropping the bomb about his father-to be status.

The water mage quickly scurried past Gray, careful not let him notice, and over to the request board. She picked the easiest mission in sight and made sure it was near her true destination. Of course she made sure it wasn't one that would involve much fighting, since she was in a fragile position. The life of her baby was not something she wanted to risk.

The girl took the job to Mira, and left without any further interaction.

Despite the regret that pulsated through her veins, the mage set off without saying a word to the dark haired man. It wasn't his child so why should she?

But to her surprise he stopped her on the way out.

She had expected his usual gruff way of speaking to her, but instead he pleasantly surprised her.

"Hi, Juvia. Listen, I need to talk to you before you leave. There's something that's been on my mind for a while now." The ice mage looked serious.

The water mage wasn't ready for him to say anything like that, not in the slightest. Time for a change of plans; fall back and hear him out.

"Y-yes Gray -sama?" She asked, shyly.

"Not here. We need to go somewhere else. I don't want other people listening or butting in."

* * *

Gray lead her to an area not far from the guild, very isolated. It was a tiny beach about a half a mile out along the coast. It was more rocks than sand but the water was calm and placid. There were only a few light waves crashing up against the rocks. The view of the magnificent ocean was breathtaking.

"I go here, sometimes whenever I just want to think. It's not amazing, but it is usually pretty quiet here. Nobody goes here, it's my own private hangout place. Sometimes, I talk to Ul here." He explained.

The water mage could certainly understand why he would treasure this place so much. It calmed her to be here. She moved towards the edge of the stone she stood upon and felt a light spray of sea water come from below.

Juvia didn't know what to say. It meant a lot to her that he had brought her here, by herself. Gray picked a pebble out of the sand and tossed it, making it skip across the water several times.

"That was very good. But Juvia can do better." She bent down, picked up her own pebble and cast it across the deep, flowing, waters. This time it skipped until it was no longer visible to the naked eye. By the time she turned back to Gray, he was shirtless.

"How did you do that?" The ice mage asked, amazed at her odd talent.

She laughed. "Well, Juvia _is_ a water mage. She knows the water better than anyone. She knows nature better than anyone." She bragged.

Gray smiled. He loved seeing her competitive side. Even if it came out while doing something as simple as skipping stones

"You know nature better than anyone huh? Well I beg to differ. I'm an _ice _mage. that's a part of nature and a form of water." He argued, playfully.

"Yes, but you _obviously _aren't even in tune with yourself." The words came out, but she didn't realize the double meaning behind it until she heard herself. Gray frowned.

" Yeah….that's kinda what i wanted to talk about." Juvia's eyes widened slightly in anticipation to was he was about to say. She looked him in the eyes, waiting patiently for him to speak. The gentle breeze blew her hair onto her face, so she brushed the strands of hair out of the way.

"…Look, this is really hard for me to say. It took me a long time to realize how things were." He paused to find the right words.

"Juvia, I know you've had feelings for me for a while and for a long time, I didn't know how I felt about it." He took another long pause. This was harder than he thought.

The blunette was busy trying to control her breathing. If she didn't stop her huffing and puffing, he was going to think she was psychotic. But it was so difficult.

_Why can't he just spit it out!?_

"I don't know how I feel about you. I can't say anything for sure."

Juvia was disappointed, but a part of her was relieved. If he had feelings for her, it would make it harder to tell him about what happened between Lyon and her. However, that part of her was only a fraction of the whole. She had waited forever for him to return her love. She was torn. True, it would be better for his sake though. She didn't want him to see her pregnancy through emotionally clouded lens.

Unfortunately, she was human and her heart ached for him to feel something for her. Even if it would make things harder.

"Juvia understands. If you don't love her, she can move on." She said, disheartened.

"No, you're not listening. I'm willing... to give this a chance."

The rain woman replayed the words in her head. Did she really just hear him right? There was no way. He couldn't have said that. Not in a million years. Not if hell froze over. Not if Cana stopped drinking, if Elfman stopped saying man, if Nab picked a mission, if Erza stopped wearing armor, if…

"Juvia, did you hear me? You're not responding."

She began to feel dizzy, and everything started to go black. But at last second, she snapped herself out of it an looked him in the eyes.

"You okay?"

"You will be Juvia's boyfriend?" She asked, ignoring his last comment. The mother-to be had to be sure that things were clear.

"Well…. I dunno let's take things slow before putting that label on it. It's not like we're gonna be getting married and having kids anytime soon." Her heart sank when he said that.

_That's right, the baby_

She realized that this would complicate things even further. The same mess as before would resurface, only this time it would be an unstoppable monster. If she didn't tell him now, the monster would grow. It would overcome them with its power. It would become a wedge in their relationship.

"Gray-sama… I…" He looked at her with the same eyes she had seen that first time they met. They were truly captivating, but right now, they were hurting her.

"What?"

" Nothing. It's just,…" Like Gray, it was tricky for her to quite articulate her predicament in the right way. The timing didn't seem right.

The pressure was eating her alive. The pregnant mage's mind was racing with all the possible outcomes of telling her beloved about the baby. Fearing the imminent disaster that was about to happen, she was paralyzed.

Last night she had thought up every excuse in the book to not tell him. All that was keeping her from using them, was knowing that it would only get harder. Eventually, she would show, and there would be no denying it then. The cold, hard truth that she had kept the pregnancy from him would be exposed. Their relationship might never mend. Wherever, their relationship went, she didn't want it to end, despite their struggles. Their connection was far too deep for that.

_I need to tell Lyon first and foremost anyways._

The worried girl, without thinking, put her hand over her lower stomach and began to stroke it gently.

"Juvia? What the hell are you doing?"

Her hand slowly fell down from her stomach. She tried to distract him from the question.

" What does that mean? Give it a chance? If we're not dating then what does 'us' entail?" It wasn't until after she asked the question that she realized how good a question it was.

"It means…..I realize that this is not a friendship. It's... different." The words came stumbling out, clumsily. Only then, did he realize how stupid they actually were.

Juvia scrunched her eyebrows together and tilted her head to the side."Isn't that what we already have?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Well, I think we should bring it out in the open, that's all. There's no use pretending it's not there, after everything that's happened."

"Gray-sama?"

"...What?"

"Why is it so hard for you to imagine me being your girlfriend?"

"It's not... I mean... well...I'm not saying it won't happen. But, I don't want you..."

"Yes?"

"... to move on." the ice mage hated himself.

"So you're saying that you want Juvia to 'reserve' herself for you?" she began raising her voice.

"No, well yes, I mean…."

She nodded her head. "Juvia understands, you don't have to explain any further, Gray-sama." She didn't want him to say more. It was too painful.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. She already understands. She understands that we will remain stagnant forever, like this water." The pregnant girl pointed down at the water.

"It may be pretty and nice, but the waves aren't large enough to go anywhere. They make an abrupt halt when they reach the rocks." She paused to let her words sink in. She had thought about this a long time and to finally say it, felt better than she expected.

"No matter how much Juvia tries, she will never be good enough to be a 'girlfriend' of Gray-sama." She said blankly, like it was nothing.

"No." Gray put a hand to his forehead, frustrated. "What's with you? Ever since the Magic Games you haven't been yourself." Gray knew the ship was sinking.

"Juvia didn't know you noticed. After all, you only notice her when it's convenient." She said, more bitterly than she expected.

The water mage didn't know what had come over her. Unable to fight the emotion, her eyes began to glisten, and her lips started to quiver. This wasn't just about dating Gray, it was about the new life growing inside of her. Her stomach twisted into a sick knot, and the tears began to cascade down her cheeks.

"What's wrong? Don't you think you're taking this the wrong way? I thought you'd be happy." He tried.

"Did you ever think that Juvia has feelings too? She cannot wait forever. As long as you keep her waiting, she has to keep dealing alone."

Suddenly, the waves began roaring, crashing against the rocks forcefully. The two standing on the rock moved back a few feet. The ice mage tried to talk over the noise.

"Juvia, you're confusing me. Why are you so upset? This isn't like you. It doesn't have to be like this."

She couldn't quite describe exactly how she was feeling. Normally she would be grateful that he would even _consider_ their relationship as something more, but there was more factors jerking her around than before. She hadn't sleep for days and she was carrying Lyon's baby. That gave her more than a reasonable excuse to react sensitively.

Another large wave rose up and came back far enough on the rock that it soaked Gray.

"Gyahhhhh! You're doing this, aren't you?!" The ice mage said accusingly.

Inside Juvia was giggling, but she didn't want her conversation to become a joke. If she were to admit that this was funny, the conversation might take on a whole new direction. That was the last thing she wanted.

"It was an accident. Juvia swears." She said with a straight face.

"Juvia..."

"Don't. Listen, you're right, I am different since the games" She said, purposefully dropping the third person bit.

"I'm different because I'm worn out. I can't just wait around anymore." Her voice was still unstable, but now, even in her tears, she sounded strong.

She continued."I'm tired Gray-sama. I'm tired of laying awake at night, wondering if even the smallest part of you feels the way she feels." Although she wanted to say more, she restrained so she could take a moment to stabilize her voice.

Gray turned and gazed out over the mighty ocean. "Do you think I like the confusion either? If I could I would tell you exactly how I feel. But I don't want to lie. If I told you I felt one way or another, I would be lying. I can't..."

"If you don't like Juvia then just tell her! Because if you don't... then she has to make certain decisions. She needs to know." She spoke the last part softly. She turned away from him, facing the ocean.

"... Again, I'm sorry." His voice softened as well. "You can do what you want. You're right, it's not my place to hold you back." he admitted. But it hurt to say so.

"But are you saying there's someone else?"

Still turned away, she answered."...No. Of course not. Juvia could never love another the same."

One last surge of desire, mixed with hope, coursed through her veins.

But he didn't respond.

"I have to go, Gray. I took a mission and I plan to complete it." She replied coldly. Apparently the mood swings were already kicking in.

The ice mage opened his mouth to say something, but found no words.

* * *

Without looking back, the water mage made her way over to the train station. It would be wrong to keep the real father in the dark any longer. Sweat rolled down her skin from the constant anxiety. She hadn't been able to think straight since she read the test strip that fateful night.

How would Lyon react? That question tortured her.

Juvia once again put a hand on her belly, where the source of her troubles were. It would be so cruel for the baby to be born into the world as an accident. She knew all too well what it was like to be unwanted in the world.

The water mage tried to fathom what it would be like to have a baby.

All she could feel was loneliness.

She had wanted so badly to tell Gray about her child. She wanted someone to share in her burden, but truth be told, he wasn't the father.

It hurt her inside to have to be so blunt with him, but it had to be done, to protect both him and her. The water mage couldn't waste her time with him anymore. It wasn't healthy, and while she felt he should know, it wasn't the right time. She couldn't tell him when the real father didn't even know.

_It's going to be alright, Juvia. All you have to do is tell him, and be on your way._

Suddenly the expecting mage, needing to sit down, found a nearby bench.

In an attempt to calm her nerves, the pregnant water mage began humming to herself.

Pregnancy was going to be harder than she ever imagined.

"Ma'm, this train's about to head out. Are you getting on or not?"

Trying to compose herself, she stood up. "Yes, sorry."

She boarded the train. All she had left was the faith that at the very least, Lyon would be understanding. She had no intention of continuing a relationship with him, but if he was going to be her daughter's father, they were going to have to work things out.

_**Please**_** tell me what you think of this! Right direction? Wrong direction?**


	3. The Trouble with Love

**A/N: **I have toyed with this chap a while, but in the end I gave up and just uploaded it as it is. I am a perfectionist so I wanted to get the characters just right!

Anyways, as usual let me know what you think! I am very grateful to those who have done this already : D

Don't want to give anything away, but keep in mind this _is _Gruvia, even if doesn't seem like it at times.

* * *

Trying to make the most of her time, the blunette had a pen in her hand. She wrote down a sentence, then crossed it out. Then wrote down another, and once again scribbled over it. This pattern continued until the nervous girl realized she was almost out of paper. It would take a Herculean effort to come up with the right words to say to the silver haired ice mage. How could she explain this kind of thing? I don't mean to disrupt your life, but remember that one night, a few weeks ago? Yeah. You knocked me up, sorry. I hope this doesn't put a damper on your day?

The water mage sighed, accepting the familiar feeling of approaching a dead end. She faced both writer's block and genuine dread churning in her gut.

All of a sudden, the anxious mother-to be felt an abrupt thud in her back. She turned around.

"I'm bored! When are we getting there!" Came the voice of a whiny child.

"Madeleine! You stop that right now!"

A woman, who looked to be in her mid thirties to early forties ,was scolding her daughter who had been kicking the water mage's seat relentlessly. The girl looked to about two years old in age.

"I'm so sorry! She's not usually like this!" She apologized.

Juvia gave a weak smile and replied. "That's okay… children will be children." It was the best she could come up with, without sounding rude.

Juvia glanced at her watch. Only fifteen minutes had gone by. She layed her head against the window and tried to sleep. No good. The sound of the train's engine roaring and the constant squabbles she heard on the hind side of her seat were endless. It was Madeleine's parents, bickering as if they were her age. Shutting her eyes, the mage heard the sound of the father's voice talking low, first. Then came the mother's. The water mage couldn't make out what they were saying at first, but as fuel was added to the fire, their voices grew more and more audible.

"She's _your_ child, so deal with her! Why do you allow her to be so rude?!" The man barked.

"Don't _even_ go there! YOU were the one who wanted to bring her in the first place! I wanted to find a babysitter! but _nooooo… "_

_"DO NOT _raise your voice at me, Jeanelle! I thought for once, we could go somewhere without our child making a scene! But every time I correct her, you console her and blame me!"

At the climax of their argument, their daughter, Madeleine began wailing at the top of her lungs. The noise pierced her ears like a sharp blade cutting into her eardrum. Juvia had never wanted so much to yell at somebody else's child. But this kid….. was such a brat.

She stopped the train attendant as she walked by. "Excuse me…. Um… Can Juvia get a couple of pillows?" She politely asked.

"Sure, I'll be back in a moment miss."

When the pregnant mage recieved her pillows, she took them and sandwiched herself, with a pillow on each ear, so that the intense cries of the child were dulled. Although she could still hear the whining of the girl and the arguing of the couple, it was muffled.

The exasperated mage put a hand to her lower belly. "You're going to be a good girl, right?" She whispered softly.

Finally as the the family behind her calmed down, she began to feel a calmness wash over her for the first time in days. Motherhood was going to be one wild ride. Though she was sure it would be a challenge, she told herself she could do it. If Bisca could do it, so could she. But even so, she knew that Bisca had Alzack, and they were madly in love. She was pregnant with Lyon's baby, and was far from being madly in love with him.

* * *

The silver haired mage greeted her with a surprised expression. Just the sight of Juvia was enough to stupefy him.

"…. Juvia-chan!" He exclaimed. The ice mage had an apron draped around him. It was an odd sight, with Opera music blaring in the background. It was Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, the famous German Baritone opera singer.

"Hello, Lyon. Juvia's sorry she had to drop by so unexpectedly… she can see you were busy."

"Oh, no it's fine! I just wasn't….exactly expecting… to see you." The words stumbled out. "How did you know where I live?"

"I went to your guild and spoke to some of your friends. They told me you were taking the day off."

"Oh. I see. "Well, come inside and sit down at least. I made churros" He replied, trying to be friendly.

"Lyon, it's okay, you don't have to be so polite. Juvia doesn't want to beat around the bush so…."

But when Juvia stepped inside she had a question come to mind . "Churros? What's a churro?" She asked, distracted by the side conversation, and the music.

"It's a Spanish dish. They're like a cinnamon flavored fried dough. I baked mine though, makes it a little healthier." He explained. "Here." He said, putting one on a plate and handing it to her. "Try it." She planned on protesting, but ended up taking it anyway. They did smell good.

His house was different than what the girl had pictured. It was small, but tasteful. Though she saw that his kitchen was cluttered when she walked by, the rest of his house was fairly neat. Most of the walls were a deep blue hue. Most of the items around were old looking and a bit rusted, but they were artsy, looking very antique. It was very much different from he other ice mage's house which was plain in comparison.

They entered his living room and they sat down at a couch, Lyon removing his apron and turning the music off.

" Oh! These are really delicious!" For one golden second, she thought of nothing but the churro. She took another bite and set the plate on the coffee table before continuing.

"But Juvia must get to the point." Her tone transformed. Though she'd thought for the longest time about what she should say to him, all of her planning had gone to waste. The water mage couldn't remember a word of what she had decided to say.

"Listen. Juvia doesn't want you to get the wrong idea about us. What happened that night…."

"Juvia, before you say anything I want to say I'm sorry."

"…..Sorry?"

"Of course! I should never have bought you all those drinks! A person should never have more than one Martini on their first time! And well… look where it lead us. We haven't even spoken since." He stated regretfully.

"Honestly, I always thought that I would cherish a night with you, even if it was just one" He cast his gaze onto the floor. "What an idiot I was. I don't even remember the details! I was just as out of it as you were!"

"Lyon… please. Before we talk about this any further, there's something else I need to tell you." She spat out.

His eyes widened until his expression appeared vacant. The water mage took a deep breath before dropping the bombshell.

Before she knew it drops of salty water were once again flowing, like a river, down her cold, white skin.

"I-I 'm s-sorry." She stammered. "I wish I didn't have to tell you this. It's too much for me to stomach, even now." She wiped her eyes. Luckily it was easier this time to handle the tears. There had been many tears lately.

"Lyon, I-I-I-I….." She was choking on her words.

Lyon's icy stare made him impossible to read. He blinked his eyes as he remained fixated on the wall behind her with blank eyes. Although she hadn't come out with the hard truth yet, she didn't need to. The ice mage knew just by hearing the tone of her voice and seeing the scared expression in her eyes, that she was indeed pregnant. His face looked familiar. It was the same face that she wore when her eyes saw the pink coloration on the test strip.

"So we did go all the way that night, as I thought." He put a hand over his eyes. "And I don't even remember what it was like." He smiled bitterly. "Funny how karma works." The silence gave off a distinctly uncomfortable aura.

"How did Gray react?" He asked monotonously, looking up at his love interest.

"He didn't" She replied, still trying the dry the dampness on her face.

"Excuse me?" He asked with a hollow tone.

"He didn't react. Juvia didn't tell him."

Lyon was nearly speechless. "You didn't tell Gray?" He was still in a state of disbelief, about both pieces of information.

She responded firmly, almost irritated. "Of course not! It's between us. He's not involved."

"I can't believe I'm hearing those words from your mouth, Juvia. You came all the way here to tell me first. I'm touched."

Normally the water mage would be annoyed, as he was implying that there was something between them, but he seemed to genuine. Not flirtatious, just genuine.

"Well, it's only right, you know. Gray-sama doesn't need to be burdened with this right now." Her eyes still reflected worry. "This is my problem. Not his or anyone else's."

He moved towards her, putting his arms around her body to embrace her ."It's my problem too. You're forgetting that." Gripping her, he pulled her into a tight hug.

The torn water mage put her hands in between their bodies and gave the ice mage a gentle push. She stood up. "No, Lyon. Juvia only came here to tell you the facts. You're the father, but you needn't be involved any further. The child doesn't need to know." Lyon's heart sank when the warmth of her body disappeared as she moved away from him.

"Are you kidding me!? This is my child we're talking about. If I made a baby with you, then I plan to take responsibility."

" We can't raise her like this!" She exploded.

"Her? So, It's a girl?" The very confused man scrunched his eyebrows together.

The pregnant girl ignored him. She had forgotten that she didn't really know, she was only trying to give her baby an identity. Having a gender might help.

"Juvia's not in love with you. She can't just force herself to love somebody. It' s better for the child to be raised by one parent who will concentrate on raising her, than to be placed in the middle of a one-sided relationship."

The father to be pursed his lips. Her point had gotten across. A relationship where there wasn't love would only skew their child's perception of love. Trying to make it work would only lead to fighting. As much as he longed for her to return his feelings. There was no forcing love. Juvia didn't like playing with his emotions, but she could help it. Unfortunately, that was how love worked. It was often a string of unreturned feelings, causing a domino effect. It made if hard for those effected to not lose their grip on reality. Lyon was a good man, she could tell, but he could not take the place of Gray.

The water mage had made herself clear to him several times in her encounters with him. But as long as Gray didn't return those feelings, the silver haired mage had hope that he could win her over.

But no matter how hurt she was by Gray's apparent indifferent attitude, she couldn't let go of her feelings for him. He had been there since the beginning. Even now, pregnant with another man's child, she had faith that they were fated to be together.

The silence was interrupted by the sound of the smoke detector going off. The smoky scent finally reached Juvia's nostrils and she watched as Lyon scrambled over to the kitchen to deal with the tiny hassle.

"Whoops, forgot about the churros!" He called to her from the kitchen, as if he was still in the dark about the pregnancy. "I should have put the timer on!" The blunette rolled her eyes as the momentum of her speech went down the drain. Juvia could have help him out, but instead she stayed put out of annoyance.

After taking longer than he should've, Lyon came back into the living room, still wearing oven mitts. "Sorry about that." He said before enduring another long awkward pause. His faint smile sunk into a frown when he saw her stoic expression.

"Lyon….. do you understand understand what I'm saying? I regret what happened and am sorry that it had be you there that night."

"It wasn't coincidence, Juvia! I was there when you were down because I care."

"You got Juvia drunk. How did that help anything?" Her words were truth and Lyon wanted to disagree with the statement, but couldn't. There was no arguing with her logic. He _did_ get her drunk. But she had been absolutely miserable. He didn't want to deny her even artificial comfort.

Juvia's sorry but she needs to get going. She hasn't even completed the mission she took to come here. There's no need to rouse people's suspicions."

"Wait! Are you absolutely sure that you're pregnant? I mean, there's no need getting ourselves worked up for nothing! What if the test was wrong!?"

"Juvia's thought of that. She's taken several home pregnancy tests and she's thinking about going to a doctor soon, but it will be difficult going without anybody knowing."

"Nobody knowing? You can't honestly be telling me that you're not going to tell anybody!" He was equally as serious now. "People are going to know! _Gray _is going to know!" The ice mage looked her dead in the eyes.

Juvia nodded her head. It was funny hearing the ice mage showing his disapproval with her like this. It was like her talk with past twenty four hours, everyone had been ridiculously honest, that is, except for Juvia. She was still trying to piece together what was left of her once stable life. If her chances with Gray were slim before, they were practically at zero now.

"I'll be going now. Think what you want, but this is my child and I'll do what I want with her."

"Wait a minute….. you're not saying you're getting an abortion? Are you? Because this is my child too, Juvia! I hope you don't think I'm angry... but please... let me love you... and the baby" He cupped the left side of her face in his hand.

She pulled away again heading to the door.

"No…. that's not what Juvia meant. She's my baby. Even if I don't know her, she's still mine." Unable to restrain herself, the girl touched where her baby was growing, once again.

"I only mean that when and how I deal with her is my business. Lyon-sama, Juvia is truly sorry, really. Just let her think about it... she needs to think."

She turned back around and briskly exited Lyon's home, taking quick strides.

When she was only about ten feet out he caught her attention again. "Juvia!" She slowly turned her head back around.

"I love you." The words were like a kick in the gut, swift and painful.

The wind sent a cold breeze over them, unusual for summer. It was an October wind, not an August one, and it overtook Juvia, sending chills down her spine. It wasn't the same wind that blew near the ocean back at Fairy Tail. This wind was cold against her skin. It was cold against her soul. It was heartless, the way she was, or at least the way she felt. She wanted so badly to be able to tell him that she felt the same way, but it wasn't true.

Juvia took once last look at Lyon, and headed off to complete her mission.

* * *

Back in Magnolia, she felt lost, like it wasn't Fairy Tail at all. Being the only one from the guild that knew of the situation, she felt no motivation to talk to any of her friends at all. She was even less than enthused about seeing Gray again. Following her conversation with Lyon, the load on her chest felt even heavier than before.

The conversation hadn't gone the way she had hoped. But she felt the failure had been on her end. Lyon had completely accepted her and she pushed him away.

This was a burden that she didn't want to put on others, including him.

She went back to her dorm and headed immediately to the shower, where she could rejuvenate. After briefly washing off she hopped out, wrapping a towel around her body and went out to the kitchen. There were many other healthy choices in the girl's reach, but her eyes glazed over them and immediately focused on the large tub of cookie dough ice cream in the back of her freezer. She strenuously toiled through the maze of packaged foods and went straight for the good stuff.

Grabbing a spoon, she dipped the utensil into the container and dug out all the big chunks of dough. It was her favorite part, really. That was why she typically avoided even opening a tub of ice-cream. It started as a few spoonfuls and soon half of the ice-cream was gone. The girl, realizing what she was doing, dropped the spoonful of ice-cream like it was poison. She plopped the box into her trashcan.

"No more of that stuff. Juvia needs to eat healthy for the baby." She murmured to herself.

"Hey! I wanted some of that!" Juvia's heart skipped a beat when she heard the deep voice. Her favorite ice mage was standing right behind her.

After giving off a shrill shriek she interrogated him "Gray sama! What are you doing here!?You could have killed Juvia!" Embarassed she quickly threw the spoon into the sink, and wiped her face of any leftover ice-cream to hide the evidence of her pig-out,

"Dont'cha think you're exaggerating a little?"

"How long have you been here?" She asked, chewing on a finger nail. The other hand was making sure that the towel was secure around her. She blushed a crimson red, as he did.

_Is Gray-sama blushing? Does he like to see Juvia nearly naked?_

She couldn't help but grin slightly.

"That's for me to know."

"Don't you usually only break into Lucy-san's apartment?"

"What? Who told you that? Natsu? I don't _break_ in, she welcomes me."

Not what the water mage wanted to hear, but decided to shrug it off. "No, Juvia just overhears things sometimes." she tilted her head to the side. "Why are you here Gray-sama? Juvia would like to know."

The ice mage scratched the back of his neck . "Well, it's nuthin really, I just wanted to make sure you were alright you know…. after our conversation and all." Gray said, retrieving the container of ice cream from the trash.

"Gray sama! That was in the trash!" The alarmed pregnant mage yelled.

"Yeah? And? It was on the very top; it didn't touch anything." The dark haired man found a spoon and dug in.

"Yes, Juvia's fine. It's not like she was upset about it." The water mage acted like it was obvious that she had taken it well. In truth, she knew he saw the tears strolling down during that talk. But what he didn't know was that she was reacting to a much bigger problem than the two of them.

"Reallly? It seemed like it really affected you." The ice mage said, pointedly,

She shot him a nervous smile. "Nope. No hurt feelings here, Gray sama. Sorry to disappoint you."

"Juvia, I'm serious. Don't lie. You think it makes it better, but it doesn't." He looked away from her, seeming to be in a trance. "Trust me, I know."

The mage seemed like he was hiding something himself, but still, he didn't know just how powerful those words were to her. The pregnant mage could've told him right then and there, but she wasn't ready. After her talk with Lyon, she needed a break from the stress. There was only so much negative energy she could take at a time. Telling the father was hard enough, but the blunette needed to rest in order to muster up all the strength she had to tell Gray.

"Sorry." That was all she could bring herself to say.

The dark haired man narrowed his eyes , reproachfully ."Don't say sorry anymore. I don't wanna hear that stuff. The only thing I want from you is the truth. If you're honest, I'll be honest." He said, leaning against the counter.

Juvia looked into his dark, earnest eyes. "Gray-sama, I have always been honest. I have told you before that I love you. I can't be more honest than that."

Gray looked as if he had something important on his mind. "Juvia….. you make t really hard for anyone to understand you." His voice was hard to interpret.

The water mage nodded her head. "Yes, Juvia knows." She sighed. "But she's tired and would like to go to sleep. Her mission was harder than expected."

" I bet. " Came the empty words.

"Well okay, time for Gray-sama to leave." She tried to shoo him out.

"Fine, I'm going. But don't say I didn't try." The ice mage decided to leave it at that. He definitely wasn't one to pry into her life, so it was unusual for him to do something like this.

"By the way, the master has a mission for us." He added. "When you're ready I'll fill you in."

His eyes then appeared to be studying his surroundings. The top of his eyelids drooped a bit. "And one more thing. Why do you have a giant picture of me hanging on the wall? That's kinda creepy." He said, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh…. yeah well….."

"You don't have to answer that." He told her, smirking. And with that the teenage boy leaped up onto her counter.

"Gray-sama?"

"What?"

"Could you knock next time? Even if it's on the window?"

Gray let out a brief chuckle and proceeded to exit her residence via the window above her sink.

Once he was gone, the hungry woman grabbed the tub of ice-cream which was sitting on the counter. When she peered inside, she found that he had not finished it.

She could waste her time wondering what it all meant. Her talk with Lyon, Gray showing up at her place unexpectedly and acting _very_ strange, but the mother to be didn't have the energy. Right now, her attention was on the ice cream.

_There's not very much left….. Juvia will finish it._

She went over to the sink and picked up the spoon she used before. Before she knew it, the rain woman had devoured every last bite of what was left.

**Please give input! I like to hear from readers : )**


	4. Words

**A/N:**

I'll try to keep my author's note short this time as I'm sure nobody really wants to listen to me ramble, lol.

Again, I would like to thank all those who reviewed, favorited, and followed. But I especially thank** Destiny1027** for making such a beautiful fan art of the scene at the end of the third chap!

Seriously, it's amazing! I have the Url (I couldn't post the link) on my profile if you want to see!You should also look at her other art. She's a very good artist :D.

Hope you enjoy the chap.

* * *

Still exhausted, the water mage flitted open her eyes only to be scorched by the sunlight that shone upon her face. Though painfully sober, she felt hung over. Had it not been for the concern she felt for her baby, alcohol would've become her primary coping mechanism. Since that was not an option in her eyes, all the lonely girl could do, was turn to numbing the wound by pretending it never happened.

Her new coping mechanism failed miserably.

Why was alcohol off limits during a crisis like this? It wasn't fair. The depressed mage, despite all her problems, had never felt the need to resort to such a thing. Yet, somehow she craved the very thing that had turned her world upside down. She was like a firefly, unable to resist the glowing light that would inevitably lead to her demise. Fortunately she had a little bit more willpower than a firefly.

Once her eyes had adjusted, Juvia let out a loud yawn and commanded her body to move.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, she spotted herself in the mirror, looking normal weight so far despite her increased appetite. It would take time to start gaining weight. But still, she couldn't help but picture herself with that large, protruding belly she was bound to get, though that was the least of her worries.

Abortion aside, there was really no way to escape the difficult road ahead of her. It would take time and patience to be at peace with her role as a mother. And although abortion would be the easiest route to go, she couldn't live with herself if she ended the pregnancy out of fear.

Juvia looked down at her belly. "Don't worry. Juvia will take good care of you." She cooed.

The attachment wasn't as strong as a mother's love yet, but it was growing. She always felt it when she spoke to her. "I mean _mommy _will take care of you." She corrected herself.

The blunette knew that she needed to get to a doctor soon, but to do so without anyone knowing or being there to support her would be tough. To tell the truth, she wanted more than anything to have somebody to confide in, but she still didn't have the courage to reveal her secret. Everytime she talked to Gray, her insides ached with desire, desire to tell him, but the feeling always faded away once he was gone. It was then replaced with an empty feeling that came from the hole in her heart.

It was her plan to tell Gray as soon as she could, but when she was with him, the words slipped away from her grasp like jelly.

The tired mage felt her stomach drop when she suddenly recalled him telling her that there was a mission she was needed for. Still puzzled by his mysterious behavior a few nights ago, she replayed the scene again in her head. He broke into her dorm, but why? There had to be a reason. But like his feelings, his intentions remained hidden, impossible to decipher.

Dragging her fatigued body to the kitchen, she grabbed a bowl and her favorite mug from the cupboard and set it on the counter. She filled the bowl with cheerios and turned on the coffee maker. Retrieving the carton that was sitting near the coffee pot, she poured the milk.

When it was ready, the water mage took the coffee pot by the handle and began pouring. She pulled open the silverware drawer, picked out the only spoon left, and dipped it into her cereal. Though it took a few seconds, the pregnant mage finally acknowledged the clash of tastes on her tongue and spat the coffee-cereal mixture back into the bowl.

Recognizing defeat, she set the bowl in the sink, on top of the mountain of dirty dishes, and reached for her mug. For the second time, it didn't make it past the back of her mouth.

Milk. Spoiled milk.

"Juvia cannot even get herself breakfast anymore? She's becoming delusional!" she grumbled while tossing the milk in the garbage on top of the empty ice cream container.

* * *

"So what was that mission you mentioned a few nights ago Gray-sama?" Juvia asked, ignoring the implications of her statement.

Gray shifted his eyes around the guild to see if anyone heard her, wearing a slight blush. " Geez! Do ya have to talk so loud?" He said in a low, but irritated tone.

The water mage lowered her voice. "So sorry, but you said there was a mission for us. Did Juvia hear you wrong?"

"Did I just hear her say that Gray spent the night with you?" Fairy Tail's barmaid broke in. "What were you two love birds up to?!" Mirajane clasped her hands together, ditsy with excitement.

Both of them nearly jumped out of their skin. The white haired S-class mage would fit right into a horror movie, the way she could ambush her victims like that.

"That's not what she said, you heard wrong." Gray told her.

"Well okay." she smiled deviously. "But we'll all find out _eventually_."

Her words echoed through Juvia's head. _Eventually._

Time was ticking.

"Come on Gray, we should get going." Came Erza's authoritative voice as she approached, ready to leave.

As it turned out the mission was not only for her and Gray, but for all of the ice mage's usual team. This came as somewhat of a relief to the pregnant woman, Their destination was a tiny village near Clovertown; where several of their inhabitants had gone mission. Though nobody told her why she was needed for the task, Juvia assumed that the reason would make itself known soon.

Although, she was worried for the safety of her baby; it would be difficult to turn it down, since she couldn't say the reason. But she was with the strongest team, so she decided it wasn't too dangerous.

While they travelled by foot, she tried to avoid walking near the dark haired ice mage. It was awkward but she needed to clear her mind. He seemed to notice it, but didn't react.

_I'm sorry, Gray-sama._

"I don't understand." The red-haired S class mage complained. "We've been to this area before, how could we be lost?" She said looking around for any sign of civilization. "We should have made it out of the forest by now."

"Why did even take this damn short cut anyway?" Gray grumbled.

Erza turned to Gray. "Well _obviously_ because it was supposed to be shorter!"

Soon, the sun began setting and it was getting dark.

"Don't you think we should stop here for a while? I mean we've been walking for hours and it's getting dark." Lucy reasoned.

The redhead in the lead stopped for a moment while still facing forward. "Hmmmm…. I suppose you're right. We don't want to get lost traveling in the dark. Let's set up camp."

"Do we even have any equipment?" Gray questioned, doubtfully.

"Of course! I always come prepared!" And with that Erza began unpacking items from her massive pile of luggage, which she always carried around. "Natsu! You and Happy go find some firewood!" She commanded.

"Aye Sir!" Came the simultaneous response. They were gone in a flash.

The requip mage took a peg and began to pound it into the ground. The remaining mages couldn't help but be amused at how much of a struggle it was for Titania Erza to drive a couple of pegs into the ground.

"Do you need any help with that?" the ice mage offered, but she continued to work furiously at it.

Gray looked over to the blue haired girl who was fidgeting nervously, looking down at her feet. He walked over and stood next to her, hands in his pockets. Unable to speak, he stood there as neither would acknowledge each other's presence.

The crickets were chirping, but the sound was partially blocked out by the clanking sounds of Erza's painstaking efforts as she was now using her sword to drive each peg into the ground thoroughly. Each time she moved onto the next peg, the last one would pop out of the ground. "Damn you fiends!"

"I hope those idiots don't get into any trouble." Lucy commented.

"_Tch_. Yeah right." Gray replied sarcastically. "I guarantee he won't be back for a few hours."

True to what the ice mage had said, Natsu and Happy returned after several hours with the gathered wood. Since they were unscathed nobody bothered to ask what took so long. By then, the moonlight had become their only source of light. Luckily it was nearly full, giving off enough illumination to see their surroundings. The dragon slayer was holding an enormous stack of wood, while the exceed carried only a few tiny sticks. They tossed their findings into a pile and without further delay, they lit the fire using Natsu's powers.

When it came time to sleep, the tiny tent that Erza had set up was barely enough to fit all of them. The space was so cramped that none of them could lay down without touching the person next to them.

"What the?" Natsu scoffed defiantly "I'm not sleeping in there so close to that ice perv!"

"Yeah? Well same here fire breath!"

As the two got in each other's faces, it appeared they were ready for a full out battle. Gray ripped his shirt off and Natsu took out his flames.

Juvia, looking for an excuse to be alone anyways tried to solve the problem. "Juvia can sleep outside the tent so there is more room." She offered.

"What! you can't sleep out here in your condition!" Natsu argued. They all looked at him, confused. Juvia eyes bugged open, mortified.

"What do you mean?" Lucy finally asked.

"She's _obviously_ just wants to do it because of this loser!" He accused pointing a finger at Gray. The expecting mage let out a sigh of relief under her breath.

"What!? You seriously still trying to pick a fight?! BAKA!" The dark haired man shot back.

"I'm just saying!"

Happy added. "She liiiiiikes him!"

"No! Juvia's not doing it only for Gray-sama, she's doing it for everybody!" She insisted. Despite her efforts, they ignored her and continued to insult each other.

"Why don't _you_ sleep outside Gray? HUH? You a wuss!?" Natsu challenged.

"Shut up bastard!" He shot back. The redheaded mage wasn't going put up with it any longer. "Be quiet! Both of you!" Her angry voice was enough to silence the two of them.

"Are you sure you want to sleep outside?" Lucy asked considerately.

"Yes, Juvia likes the outdoors anyways."

What a lie.

* * *

Later the same night Juvia gazed up at the moon, lying on top of her blanket. The anxious mage hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. It was impossible with all of the thinking she was doing. In addition, the sound of Natsu's loud snoring could be heard from a mile away.

"ZZZ-Zzzz-ZZzzz-hngGGggh-Ppbhww-zZZzzzZZ..._Luuuucy_... ZzzZ-hngGGggh... _keep doin that... ZZZ-Zzzzz_"

Too annoying.

While the night sky had been beautiful enough to grab her attention,the trees blocked her view. She sat up and had a sudden impulse to take a walk around the woods. Careful not to forget where the camp was, she headed off through the trees until she something caught her eye. She squinted her eyes and spotted an open area, where she could see the moonlight glistening over a small river. The restless girl made her way over to the riverbank and picked up a pebble. She crouched down and tossed it, remembering her conversation with Gray. The pebble once again went as far as the eye could see.

"That's cheating you know." She heard a few footsteps and looked up to see the ice mage standing next to her. "It's not fair because you're a water mage."

"Why are you out here?" She wondered.

"Same reason as you, I'm guessing. I couldn't sleep." He sat down next to her. "Natsu's snoring."

There was a long awkward silence. "You alright? You seem like something's on your mind." He finally asked.

"Gray-sama…. how many times are you going to ask Juvia that?" She said, smiling faintly. His persistence was eating away at her heart; slowly but definitely. "Anyways, if Juvia didn't know better, she would say something's on _your _mind." The crickets could now be heard, in the stillness of the night.

He shrugged his shoulders. His concern was genuine, but hidden behind his detached demeanor. It would have been easier for him to play her 'we don't know each other' game, but the forlorned look on her face was impossible to ignore. It drove a dagger through his heart.

" I guess I just can't shake this feeling that…" Juvia could have helped him out, but instead she allowed him to trip all over his words again. She wanted him to work for a change. There were so many times that she struggled to say the right thing to him. Only her problem had never been finding words, it was deciding which ones to say and which ones to keep to herself. She wanted him to know what it was like trying to say the right thing, since he always seem to avoid saying anything at all. "well it just seems like...you're hiding something."

Inside, Juvia hormones were causing an emotional roller coaster. She couldn't decide what she wanted to do. The Jimminy Cricket inside of her was screaming; "_Tell him!"_ but it was against her better judgement. They needed to work in harmony on this mission. Not to mention, the rest of the gang would have to get caught up in their drama.

Around them the trees were swaying in the wind and an owl was hooting its repetitive song. The crisp, cold air against her skin felt like a gentle nudge on the pregnant water mage to give in to her longings. She was naturally an honest person, but the fear inside devoured that part of her like a hungry lion. Instead, she withdrew from the temptation and threw the weight of the conversation onto Gray.

"Gray-sama, why did you come to Juvia's dorm room the other night?" She blurted out. "You're paying so much attention to Juvia." His hurt expression made her hesitate a little. "It's not like you" she finished.

He shook his head "You don't get it."

She shot him a quizzical look. "Please explain."

"You really expect me to tell you, when you won't even tell me what's going on? Why are you trying to change the subject?!"

The lovesick mage couldn't take it anymore. "Gray-sama, there is something I need to tell you." She began. "But she can't tell you now."

The ice mage was not surprised. "Then when?"

"Not now." Her voice sounded brittle and her airways practically constricted as she squeaked the words out. "Can it just wait a little longer?"

He thought about if for a moment. It was so hard to resist telling her 'no it can't!' but her pitiful eyes appealed to his better nature. If she wasn't ready, then he wasn't.

"I don't like this." He replied bluntly, but with concern. "You're keeping stuff from me, but I can't force you to tell me."

"I just have one question. Is there... somebody else?"

"You've already asked me that before."

"No. Just answer." The dark haired mage looked in her eyes. "Is there someone else?"

"Juvia told you before... she could never love someone else." The words rolled off her tongue so easily. It was truth.

That was all it took; he didn't know why, but she looked perfect. The moonlight against her eyes made them sparkle, and her hair was beautiful. He couldn't see a lot in the lighting, but what he could see, was amazing. The ice mage leaned in close to her, his gaze so full of passion that it made Juvia want to melt. In fact, she almost did.

"Gray sama? What are you doing?"

"Something I should've done a long time ago."

"…..?"

With his face near her's, his gaze intensified, mesmerizing her before making his next move. Before she knew it, the blued haired girl lost track of reality. She closed her eyes and parted her lips slightly. When his lips met hers she couldn't stop trembling as chills shimmered down her spine.

_Is this really happening? It can't be!_

Her heart rate began to increase as the weight of his body pressed up against hers. She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and hung on tightly as he nibbled at her mouth.

Feeling a powerful burst of affection, Juvia could not hold back any longer as she took the lead, allowing herself to indulge in the heat of the moment. The sweat began pouring down their skin as she shifted her weight so that she was pressing down on him, and greedily went in for more. This was what she had waited for; this was what she had _ached_ for. It was finally coming true and nothing could contain the fire that radiated within her. The volcano was erupting.

The man unbuttoned her shirt, impatiently. While she was preoccupied with his mouth he found the back part of her bra and unattached the hook and eye, allowing it to fall off of her. The frisky man slid his hands around to the front, where her breasts were. He began fondling them, caressing them gently, and she let out a tiny whimper.

"I... *_pant*_ like that sound." He said in a throaty voice.

She tried to stay strong but was no match for his practically orgasmic touch. Surrendering to his unmatchable energy, she allowed him to push his weight back onto her, this time pushing her to to lay down in the sand.

The normally detached mage began to explore the rest of her body. When he reached the areas he liked the most, such as her hips and breasts, he gave them a brief squeeze and she cried out. Their senses were heightened, though the sound of the roaring waters next to them were barely noticeable. They were too distracted by the touch and smell of their partner. As they breathed heavily, they tried to make sense of the insanity.

"I don't know what the hell I'm doing." He said between breaths. "But... I can't stop."

"I mean we had never even kissed. You're just..." It was funny that Gray was the one talking, but she liked it. His actions were an act of passion the could not be rivaled by anything she could do, but the words were just the icing on the cake. The reserved man was not one to do much talking, but when he did; you really had to read between the lines. He would never say cliches such as 'I love you' or 'you're beautiful'. It wasn't his style, but quite frankly, she didn't care. He could say whatever he wanted at that moment and it would sound like words of affection.

With every touch, she felt a rush of ecstasy flow through her. Her breaths became more and more shallow as the tension between them was rising exponentially. He moved in on her, unleashing a part of Gray she'd never seen. She always imagined that in this kind of moment she would be the more passionate one.

Juvia wanted to say something back, but it was hard to, with all the excitement. Without warning, the ice mage was suddenly overcome with lust as he moved his hands down. She smelt so good and her skin felt so soft. He hoisted her up on him and began to tug at her skirt, pulling it down.

But suddenly their mutual exchanges came to a screeching halt.

Juvia's eyes shot open as she remembered that there was a third person; the one who was growing inside her. And there was someone else, who was not here.

The way they touched felt familiar; it reminded her of the night she conceived. Although it was impossible to remember exactly what it was like that night, what she did remember was emotions. She remembered the heat.

It was too much to bare.

"Gray-sama, we have to stop." She said in a serious tone. Her voice was still breathy as she tried to regain her composure. The blunette sat up and grabbed the ice mage's hands, removing them from her and shook the sand from her hair.

She knew that she had every right to sleep with whom she wanted, but she was having Lyon's baby. She had always believed her and Gray were soul mates, but now, sleeping with him didn't seem right.

"Are you even kiddin me? Why should we stop now?"

"Because... Juvia can't do this." She said while buttoning her shirt back up and fastening her skirt. She felt her heart rate steadily falling back to normal.

There was a long pause before he answered back. "Are you... scared?"

In all honesty she was scared, and although they weren't talking about the same thing she answered him without lying. She nodded her head.

The ice mage looked disappointed, but he respected her wishes, knowing that there was more behind it. He crossed his arms and sighed, perplexed. "You know, I always knew you were kinda shy, but to do this to a guy is just plain cruel."

"Are you mad at Juvia?"

"Nah. I'm joking." The water mage had a look of relief. "Sort of." He stood up with his shirt in hand and put it back on. " You're right...I don't know what came over me. Let's just pretend this never happened, okay?" And with that his raging hormones finally began to calm down.

That was the last thing the pregnant girl wanted. As he started to walk away she followed him. "No. Gray-sama, wait!" He snapped his head around only to meet with her moist lips. His eyes widened at first, but then relaxed when he felt how right they felt against his. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held tightly. When they finished their eyes were locked on one another and the dark haired man was the first to speak.

"You don't have to prove anything to me. I can wait, the same way you've waited for me. If this is hurting you... I don't wanna do this." He said, finally letting go of her. "I'm the one who wanted to take things slow anyways."

"Thank you." She said, almost in a whisper. "We should get back to camp now. The others might worry if they wake up." She pointed out.

He nodded his head in agreement and they began walking.

As they approached the tent she added. "Gray-sama?"

"What?"

"Can Juvia switch sleeping places Gray-sama? It's cold out. You like the cold."

He groaned reluctantly. "Sure."

* * *

Sorry if that was a shitty make-out scene. I'm not like, a lemon writer or anything.

Needless to say, please review! I really am interested to hear what you have to say and it is what keeps me going!


	5. Best Friends Club

**A/N:** I am soooo sorry if this is crappily written. *Sigh* I don't have writer's blood flowing through my veins like some.

But either way, please please please review!

And thank you to those have favorited, followed, and reviewed. I couldn't do it without you guys : )

* * *

"You're sure it's this way?" Erza ways, directing the question at Natsu.

"Yep. It's up here.."

"I can't believe you didn't tell us that you found the village!"

"Yeah? Well you didn't ask! And I was tired anyways. It's not like we were going to pack up the tent and just head down there!"

As it turned out, the dragons slayer and his Exceed had actually found the village they were looking for. It wasn't far from the area they set up camp at after all; in fact it was where they had found their firewood. They had bought it, unbeknownst to the others. Although, it did make sense now, since the wood was so neatly cut up.

"We could have gotten there faster you pink haired idiot!" The ice mage accused.

"Who stuck a pole up your ass popsicle!? You're just grumpy cuz you had to sleep out under the stars. What's the matter? Couldn't handle the great outdoors!?"

"NATSU!"

"ENOUGH! Why do I always have to get in between you two idiots!" The furious redhead whacked their heads together, hard.

Apparently nobody was in a good mood after the long night. Gray himself was moody partly due to the fact that he'd rolled over on some poison ivy while sleeping, with no clothes on of course. And there may have have been another additional reason as well, that only Juvia knew of. The atmosphere was almost hostile. Juvia tuned out the senseless bickering of the others as she questioned whether what had happened between her and the ice mage was a dream or not. He cold acted as if nothing had happened, but she expected that from him.

Still, the blunette wanted badly to talk to him about it. She wanted to know what it meant; if he still had any desire to be with her. After all, it could have just been an impulsive move. The hypnotic nature of moonlight was notorious for blinding people with lust. She tried not to let it get to her, and was good at it after all the practice she had from being rejected so many times.

But as they walked, there were several moments when the water mage thought that she saw him staring at her in the corner of her eye. She knew better than to look back. The distraction wasn't needed. Not now.

"Hey look! I think that's the place!" Lucy said, pointing at a tiny nearly primitive seeming village.

"That's it all right!" Natsu replied, beaming.

When the team found their client, he told them all about what they were up against. Women were disappearing left and right, without any trace of where they'd gone. None of them had any motivation to leave and there was no pattern other than gender.

"We need to rule out the obvious locations, it's just…. none of the villagers are willing to travel up on the peak of Mt. Wasatobe. There are so many frightening creatures up there." The man told them.

Heading out to investigate, Erza made a hypothesis. "Since that's the only nearby location that they haven't checked, it's only logical that we investigate up their first." She said, stopping near the foot of Mt. Wasatobe "We should split up into teams; Lucy, Natsu and Juvia can be in one group." She then turned to Gray. "And Gray, you and I can be the other."

They all nodded their heads in agreement. "Natsu, you and your team can head towards the top. Gray and I will take a look around the base of the mountain."

Lucy looked less than thrilled. "Do we seriously have to hike all the way up the mountain? Maybe you and Gray should go since you're better fighters. I'm sure there's way more danger up there." She tried to reason in her favor.

"Are you kidding Lucy? We have me!" the dragon slayer pointed out. Happy took the opportunity to insert an insult here."Besides Lucy, you _really _need the exercise!"

"Shut up cat!"

"Juvia's not a bad fighter either, and the peak of the mountain isn't necessarily where we'll find them. They could be anywhere, maybe not even up there at all." The requip mage pointed out.

So the team of three headed up the mountain, searching for clues. By the time they had climbed up three quarters of the mountain, the pregnant mage was exhausted and feeling nauseated. She began to feel dizzy and once her vision started to falter she found a nearby rock and tried to sit down.

"Ummmmm… can we stop here just for a minute? Juvia's tired."

"You're telling me! Let's rest for a little Natsu." The blonde said, finding a spot on a boulder near the blue haired girl.

The pink haired dragon slayer for once didn't protest. "Well…. I'm not tired but I guess if you guys have to stop we can." He said blankly staring at the two girls.

Juvia was sure that it wasn't good for the baby to tire herself out. She was beginning to have regrets about having come on this mission, but it was too late to back out. Having thought about it more, the blunette realized it wasn't the best decision after all, nothing was worth risking her child's life. Even if it meant the others wouldn't understand. They didn't have to.

"Hey Juvia, you okay?" Natsu asked, still looking out over the mountain view.

Juvia took one last deep breath, so as not to sound short of breath. " Yes, Juvia's fine, why do you ask?"

Lucy was also puzzled. "Yeah, why?" She questioned, almost jealous.

"It's nothing; I just thought you looked tired is all."

The blonde looked over to the blunette and she shrugged. The two exchanged confused looks, though Juvia was more paranoid than the other girl that maybe it meant something. Could it be that the dragon slayer was keeping what he knew a secret? Impossible. How could he know about her pregnancy when she hadn't told anyone from Fairy Tail? It didn't make sense. The only person who knew anything about it was the father; and he would never reveal her secret against her wishes, let alone reveal it to Natsu of all people.

_She can't sleep out here in her condition!_

That's right. He did say that didn't he?

"Natsu-san?" She started but was cut off by the sound of giant footsteps approaching. Feeling a large presence behind her, Juvia slowly turned around to see a massive Vulcan standing behind, looking more than ready for a fight.

"Nother Pretty Wo-man!"

Alarmed, she didn't react quick enough and the vulcan hit her; hard causing the pregnant mage to fall to the ground as hard as possible, nearly blacking out. The creature snickered and went over to grab her. Horrified, she picked herself up off the ground and sent an attack at her opponent.

"Water slicer!" Since vulcans weren't incredibly strong, it didn't take much to defeat the monster with the joint effort of all three. Soon an unconscious vulcan was lying in the dirt.

"You know what this means? I bet it's the vulcans who have been taking all the villagers being the perverts they are!" Lucy exclaimed.

"You're right Lucy-san. We should look around for more." The water mage replied, trying to the overwhelming fear and agitation she felt. She had just taken a hard fall, one that may have affected the baby.

Unaware of what was going on higher up on the mountain, Erza and Gray continued to search for signs of the missing villagers. The ice mage's efforts were half-assed as the memory of what he did the night before still replayed in his head. He felt ashamed at himself, taking advantage of her at such a moment. They both knew that he still didn't know exactly what it was he felt for her, but logic was not a factor at the time.

Her hair, her skin, her eyes, all beautiful. And her other assets, well, the dark haired man couldn't think of a word to describe them without being disrespectful. She was a woman for sure, but in the moonlight she had seemed like something surreal. She was more than a woman; she was a sorceress, keeping him spellbound with every move. Every one her features whether seen with the eyes or not, were captivating. For once, the man felt that he was the one who couldn't keep control of himself. So many times he had pushed her away out of fear. So many times he had told himself that she was insane, that there couldn't be a relationship.

"Gray?" The ice mage finally looked up as his redheaded partner said his name. "Is everything all right? You seem like you're more aloof than usual today." She said, ignoring the fact that he was scratching his back incessantly.

"Huh?"

"What's going on with you?"

"Nothing." Erza stood waiting for him patiently.

"Well….. it's just…." He tried.

"It's about Juvia isn't it?"

He gritted his teeth "What makes you think that?"

"I've known you for a long time, that's all."

The ice mage paused before answering. "It's just that there's been a few issues between us."

"Well that much is obvious." There was an awkward silence as she hesitated to continue. " Have you done what I suggested? Made things clear with her?"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean!? How can I make things clear when I don't even know what it is I'm _making_ clear!?" He couldn't contain frustration at this point. It had been building up and now the dam was breaking. All his defense mechanisms had been destroyed.

"Gray, you're making it harder than it has to be….why don't you go with your gut? I think..."

He cut her off "I know what you think! You think this is all so simple when it's not! She's got issues to resolve."

"So do you. Maybe you can help each other out." Erza advised. It was hard for her to not meddle with their relationship, but watching the two of them progress was like watching paint dry. It needed a little speeding up.

"She's acting funny, she's hiding things from me. How can we have anything when she's not honest?

" You're not being entirely honest either." At that, she knew she had hit the nail on the head. The ice mage pretending he was preoccupied with searching, as if he had suddenly forgotten what they were talking about.

"Gray... don't you think that for once it would be a good idea to listen to your own emotions?"

Again didn't 'hear' her. The redhead sighed and followed him, but stopped in her tracks when she heard sound of a group of people coming towards them.

"Erza! Gray!" The celestial Spirit mage came running up to them followed by Natsu, a perturbed looking Juvia, and a whole group of women who were, presumably from the village.

"What happened?" The ice mage questioned. His attention was then turned to the blue haired girl who had a hand on her other arm, as if bothered by something. "You okay?"

"What? Oh, sure Gray-sama! Juvia just got a few scrapes that's all."

* * *

Distressed and exhausted from what had happened on the mission, the water mage approached the door to her dorm with a slight stagger, nearly missing what was on the ground below her. She felt something that seemed like plastic touch her feet. She looked down to see a beautiful bouquet of roses at her feet. Attached to the flowers there was a small note,

_If you're ready, meet me for coffee on Saturday at 3 pm, at Risa's Cafe_

_Love,_

_Lyon Bastia_

She should've known that he was not just going to leave her alone. He was the father of her baby after all! It's not like he would just disappear from her life. Maybe if it were any other person, they might. If it had been some random guy she had a one night stand with, he would probably be happy to high tail it out of the whole complicated mess. Juvia had given Lyon a 'get out of jail free' card but because of his feelings for her, there was no way he was going to take it. She hated to admit it, but it would be a whole lot easier if he didn't want anything to do with her or the child.

But as she thought about it more, the pregnant girl realized how unfair it would be to exclude the father from being apart of his child's life.

It was Wednesday, so she had a little while to think about it, luckily. The silver haired mage was probably aware that she a friendly reminder to start thinking about their future again.

Banishing the problem from her mind,the rain woman entered her room, set the bouquet aside on her desk, and sat down on her bed, thinking about the mission and their encounter wit the vulcans. As she laid there under her soft puff another worrisome thought came to mind.

_What if I had a miscarriage?_

The water mage sat up. She had had some spotting, but hoped it was nothing serious, since it was common for there to be some of that during the first trimester. Still,she had to see a doctor. But before that, she needed to tell someone.

"Hello? What the fuck do you want Juvia? It's 3 in the morning!" Juvia could hear something heavy make a thud on the other side of the line. After a few shuffling noises, the man finally answered, sounding groggy like he was half asleep still.

"Gajeel-kun? Juvia's sorry, but she really needs you to come over; right now. She needs to ask you a favor." She said, holding the phone up to her ear.

"Can't it wait?"

"It could, but it's better if it's dealt with now."

"Arrrgghhhhhh! Rain woman….. this had better be good! If I find that you're calling me over for something stupid like that time you called me over to squash a cockroach on the floor, then I'll have to kill you."

"…"

"Hey, I was just kidding! Damn it, I'll be over in a sec."

"No, it's okay Gajeel-kun. I'm not upset with you. Just come over and I'll tell you everything."

The pierced man was perplexed. "…. Kay. "

As he was speaking, something stole the water mage's attention. She set the phone and listened, cautiously staying quiet.

" _Crunch* Munchmunchmucn* CRUNCH munch munch munch* Crunch Crunch munch munch* CRUNCH"_

There was an odd noise coming from the kitchen. It was very peculiar, she didn't think she had mice, and besides it was far too loud to be a tiny rodent. Juvia looked around and picked up the nearest weapon she had available, which was, by chance, a broom. She didn't know what she was doing, but she had seen it in all the movies, although it was normal something more like a baseball bat. As she approached the kitchen The frightened blunette inched over to the frame of the door leading into the kitchen and took a peek around the corner. Right in the center of her field of view sat a shadowy figure who appeared to be standing over by the counter near the window. The light of the full moon filtered in around the intruder, giving off a silhouette.

"Who's there?! Juvia's armed and dangerous! She will not show mercy if you don't leave now!" She warned in the most threatening tone she had.

The sound of crunching could still be heard as he remained where he was,

"These cheerios are so damn stale, and there's no milk! When the last time you bought groceries?"

Juvia flicked on the light switch to see a familiar pink haired boy leaning against her counter, eating what looked like, the cheerios she left out a few nights ago.

"Natsu-san!"

"What?"

"What do you mean what!? Why are you here!?"

"Why are you holding a broom?"

"Self defense."

"…You're a mage though." He reasoned.

"Right." The blunette blushed a little out of embarrassment. She sometimes did things that truly made no sense. Setting the broom down against the table, she awaited the answer to her first question.

The dragon slayer took his time eating before answering. He set the bowl down on the counter and put a hand to his mouth, as if musing. "Ya know…. I'm not really sure." He sniffed the air. "You smell weird."

It was hard to tell if Natsu really meant exactly what he was saying, or if he was playing dumb. But if he wasn't playing dumb, then she wanted to play it safe. "Juvia just showered so…."

"Not that kind of weird. There just something different about you." Natsu went over to the the fridge and began searching for food. With his head stuck inside he went on "Have you told anyone you're pregnant yet?" The way he asked her was almost casual, catching the pregnant girl off guard.

"W-what do you mean? Juvia's not pregnant!" She said, instinctively defending herself. "I-I mean….."

"Don't lie. You smell the exactly like a pregnant woman!" The water mage was speechless. "So I take it you didn't tell Gray yet? You might wanna tell him soon I don't know if he'll appreciate…"

"No, you don't understand! He doesn't need to know yet! It's not his problem."

"That's a funny way of looking at it, I mean he's partly responsible right? Shouldn't he…."

"He's not responsible. Er… I mean…." She took a deep breath before saying the words out loud. "He's not the father."

Natsu's jaw dropped like the ball on New Years. He put his pinky in his ear, as if cleaning it out. "I'm sorry, I think I heard you wrong, what was that?"

The water mage closed her eyes and put a hand to her forehead, almost ashamed. "Gray-sama is not the father, Lyon-sama is. It was all a mistake, but I plan to keep the baby. It's not her fault this happened."

The dragon slayer blinked his eyes and processed her words. "You're having a baby…. and it's Lyon's?…. and you already know it's a girl? Wow. I've been in the dark." Natsu scratched his head in confusion.

"No, no. Juvia just _addresses_ her as a girl so that she can feel more close to her." She explained looking down at her belly. She couldn't help but wonder if the little person was listening to them.

"What -the-FUCK!" Came the familiar voice of Juvia's crass best friend. "So you're replacing me is that it !? You couldn't wait five minutes for me to get here!?

"Calm down man! I came over here by myself, and anyways I don't think You should Be here Considering this is a GIRL'S dorm!" Natsu reasoned, though not a good one.

"You're a Guy too, you Retard!"

"Well, whatever! That still doesn't give _you _an excuse."

"PLEASE!" The two dragon slayers whipped their heads around in response to the frustrated mother-to-be whom they'd forgotten about. "Juvia has a VERY bad headache, so be quiet!" She commanded like she was the new Erza. Pregnancy could shrink a woman's tolerance threshold, until it barely existed. Although it did feel good to snap at others for once.

And with that the two fell silent and gave her their full attention to the emotional woman.

Natsu sat up on the counter and crossed his arms. "You gonna tell him?"

"Tell me what!?"

The pink haired dragon slayer answered for her."You mean you don't smell it?" Natsu scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. "You're with her more than me, and you haven't noticed that scent?"

The iron dragon slayer flipped through pages of the memory book in his head, searching for some sort of clue as to what was going on. But like an unlisted phone number from a phonebook, he couldn't figure out what the other dragon slayer meant. Sure, she smelled a bit hormonal, but other than there was nothing abnormal about her smell. Whether it was Estrogen or Progesterone he could smell them all when they increased, but that was just a part of her never ending womanly cycles, nothing out of the ordinary. It was only hormones…..hormones…..hormo-

Suddenly it clicked. What he was referring to. Gajeel then switched his gaze over to the very uncomfortable rain woman standing next to him who was sweating an ocean. "You Mean you're…..Oh my GOD! Fuck Fuck FUCK!" Juvia put her hands up in front of her, motioning for him to calm down. But he couldn't stop the avalanche from happening. "You're…. PREGNANT!" The snow drowned the pregnant girl. The iron dragon slayer yelled with no regard for keeping an appropriate 'indoor voice'.

"It was an accident Gajeel-kun, it really was!" She said, flailing her arms.

"Why didn't you at the very least wear a condom?! And what about that stripper!? I swear I am going to kill-" His head was spinning so fast that he thought it was going to become unattached from his shoulders.

"No!" Juvia let out another sigh of frustration. The kitchen light was pounding on her head, and feeding the headache and nausea she felt from the stress. If she had her way the light would be off, but she couldn't just stand there in the dark having this conversation. That….. would be weird.

"It's not his." Natsu interjected.

"What?!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, I had the same reaction. It's that Lyon guy. You know, Gray's almost-brother from Lamia Scale?" Gajeel's jaw dropped the same way Natsu's had and his red eyes near popped out of his head. He stared at Juvia as if to ask if there was any truth to his statement. She supposed she should be angry that Natsu had let the cat out of the bag like that, but secretly, she was relieved that the burden was off of her for the moment. The blue haired girl nodded her head as she bit her lip.

The iron dragon slayer felt dizzy. "Do you realize what this means? Juvia, you're gonna be a … a…. a….."

"A mother." She finished. Feeling the weight of the situation finally get to her, the pregnant mage couldn't help but let a few tears stream down her cheek. It wasn't like the first few episodes of crying, but it was still painful. Luckily, there weren't enough tears to use at the moment.

The two dragon slayers exchanged panicked glances and had a silent battle over who was going to speak next. In the end, Gajeel lost the fight since he _was_ closer to her than Natsu.

"Juvia… you know I errrr… think you'll make... an okay mom. I mean you've always had that annoying maternal instinct." His attempt to console may have been futile, but it was the best he could do.

When she replied, her voice came out sounding shaky and pathetic. "B-but, she's n-not r-r-ready for this. S-she wanted to b-b-be married when this happened... w-with G-G-G-Gray-sama!"

It was the fire dragon slayer's turn. He put a hand on her shoulder. "You'll be alright. Sure, it's not exactly something you had planned, but ya know some of the best things in life come unexpected." He smiled a genuine, Natsu smile that was only reserved for the most meaningful of moments. Although they weren't the best of friends, his encouragement was exactly what she needed at this moment. For a second she felt a strong fondness for him. Truthfully, they had never really gotten to know each other, but if there were ever a time for them to bond, it was now.

Remembering her main concern that she had on her mind, Juvia continued, "Natsu-san, on the mission with the vulcan and everything, Juvia's afraid that something may have…"

"I know. That's why I came over here; to make sure you're okay."

"Oh, well that's very kind of you. But Juvia still needs to make sure the baby is okay. It would be nice if she could go to a doctor, but she doesn't want to go alone." She looked at her pierced friend. "She was wondering if you could go with her." She asked using a sweet tone.

"What? You want me to bring you to the doctor? Why me!?"

"No one else knows but Lyon-sama, Natsu-san, me, and you."

The man groaned and answered with reluctance. He was no match for Juvia's manipulative ways. "Alright, fine, first thing in the morning, but you're damn lucky I'm feeling compassionate right now!"

Juvia moved forward and wrapped her arms around her Phantom Lord comrade in a hug. "Thank you, Gajeel-kun, so much!"

"Hey Hey HEY! You know i don't like that crap! Get off!" He said harshly, but didn't make any attempt to escape her. The rugged man was all bark and no bite. Juvia knew it and she took advantage of it as much as she could.

When she was finished she turned to the pink haired dragon slayer who was standing there patiently with his arms crossed. The water mage stood in front him and nodded her head in respect. "Thank you also, Natsu-san. Juvia knows we aren't all that close… but she's glad that you care this much."

He started walking over to the window, with his arms folded across the back of his head. "Yeah, no problem. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." He hopped up to the popular entrance above the sink. "But if you _really _still want to keep it a secret, then be sure not to go near any dragon slayers cuz I guarantee they'll smell it, unlike this idiot here." He gestured to Gajeel.

"Shut the fuck up. I noticed, I just didn't think anything of it got it?"

"Whatever. Juvia, I hope everything works out." And with that, the fire mage was gone.

Juvia gave a wry smile to her friend.

Her shook his head. "You are one big mess, you know that?"

She shrugged her shoulders and gave a wry smile. "Sorry."

* * *

**A/N: **Again, so sorry for shitty writing. You may complain if you want.

Ummmmm... but aside from that I just want something clear about miscarriages. She didn't have many symptoms, but there are some cases where the symptoms don't show up until weeks later, if you didn't know. So she _does _have reason for concern.


	6. Truce

**A/N:** Alright I have just a couple of things I need to address in this Author's note.

First of all, Reviews! thank you so much for your support! I read some of them and I'm like "awwwww... you give me the fuzzies!" As for the question about updating; I'm sorry if I am not updating as much as I normally do, but I have new schedule now that summer's over. It will be hard to update twice a week as I've done before. But, don't worry, I will try to update at least once a week!

Secondly, although most of what we discussed comes into play later in the fic, I want to give credit where it's due ahead of time. So, a special thanks to **DarkHope** who has really been helping me plan and organize my ideas for the future of this fanfic recently:D Sometimes my brain needs a sanity check, so she's just been being ridiculously awesome and listening to me ramble on and on about this fic and giving input.

But she's probably like "Oh no! I don't want to be associated with her!"Lol. So when I do something shockingly horrible, (I'm sure you're all thinking 'too late'), don't blame her; she most likely _didn't _have anything to do with it. Haha. And I'm sure most of you already have read her stuff first, but she has her own works such as her Gruvia manifesto, which I feel, could convert _anyone_ to Gruvia (although I'm told her rants on Tumblr are more up to date, Lol). Also fanfics that are of course, on her profile. Those are wonderful as well : )

So anyways, that Author's note was a little long right? Well, I apologize. Continue on, the chapter is still there. It didn't go anywhere. Oh, and don't think I'm planning to do horrible things. I was just saying.

* * *

While Juvia sat on a table in the doctor's office, a storm was brewing outside. The low rumble of the thunder could be heard looming in the distance and the black clouds spread across the sky like a blanket of darkness. The mood was somber, for sure, and even more somber for a certain water mage who awaited the results of her testing.

"Well, based on the evidence from the blood tests pelvic exam, and ultrasound. I would say you did _not_ have a miscarriage. You say you've only taken home test right? Home pregnancy tests _can _be faulty, however it is obvious from the bloodwork we've done that you were definitely pregnant to begin with as well." The doctor, an older woman, explained, holding a clipboard and pen.

"So….. is he the father?" The woman said gesturing towards Gajeel.

The water mage nearly gagged at the thought. "No. He's just a friend."

"Oh. I see, one of _those._" the doctor raised her eyebrows.

Juvia giggled and Gajeel cheeks turned bright red. "He's not gay." The water mage blurted out. "Just helping out, because Juvia didn't want to come alone."

"Wow." She remarked. "It's not usual to have such a sensitive guy around, especially when they're not the father. I usually see one of the mothers' girlfriends come along with her." The doctor smiled at him.

The iron dragon slayer rolled his eyes. "Sensitive my ASS! Let's just get to the point. This paranoid girl's all worried about her kid being okay." He explained wearing a scowl and looking away.

"At this point, there aren't any signs of any serious problems. You'll need to take note if there are any further symptoms, but I'd say you're in the clear."

The water mage let out a sigh of relief. "Well that's all Juvia needed to hear."

The doctor gave her a warm smile. "It certainly seems like you'll make a good mother. Your concern for your child seems quite genuine."

Juvia blushed at the compliment. "Isn't that natural?"

"Well….. let's just say that sometimes particularly young mothers such as yourself sometimes let the fear get to them." The doctor pursed her lips, thinking of her experiences. "It can be a pretty scary thing to have a little person growing your tummy." She said, and chuckled a bit.

The woman then gave her an extensive physical examination and asked her several questions pertaining to her health status and date of conception, which Juvia was 100% sure of.

"So, that means your due date will probably be around…. let's see… end of March? Hmmmmm….. yes! Spring baby. That'll be nice." She said with a cheerful ring to her voice.

Juvia felt a sense of joy knowing her baby would be born in that particular season. During that time there would be blooming flowers and other gifts of nature. She could imagine holding her baby in her arms in the hospital bed, with the sunlight pouring in through the window giving the room a sentimental glow.

The rest of the appointment consisted of being told all the do's and don't of pregnancy. It was almost overwhelming. Sure, was already aware of most of them, but it was still enlightening to hear all of them spelled out for her. It wasn't all that complicated, but it still made her feel paranoid about all of the possible ways to mess up. She couldn't even eat sushi!

At the conclusion of her lecture, the doctor seeing Juvia's worry, decided to give her a little encouragement. "Your baby will be fine, I'm sure. The fact that you're worried means you'll give your child excellent care." She added at the end, "You will be needing to get regular check-ups though. Do you have any other questions?"

The pregnant mage shook her head, still trying to take in everything she was told.

"Here. If you have trouble remembering the key rules to a healthy pregnancy, take this." The doctor handed Juvia a brochure and walked out the door. On it was a picture of a woman with a very large belly on the front. The woman was smiling down at her belly as if all was well.

_I bet that woman's baby belongs to her true love_

Even though it was only a picture, the image had Juvia thinking about what it would be like to be apart of a different story. One where two people meet, spend time together, realize their need for each other, and spend the rest of their lives together. They would both agree they want a family and it would happen. Such a simple idea in theory, but it didn't happen as much as she once believed.

Realizing her feelings, the pregnant girl had to shake the jealousy she felt towards the woman on the cover. Deciding the pregnancy itself was more important than who the father was, she looked down, mimicking the woman, beamed, and brushed her hand over her belly.

As the two walked out of the hospital building, they noticed rain had instantly cleared up and an array of colors were stretched across the sky. The emotional woman stopped walking and was staring at the display, eyes watering. The iron dragon slayer looked at her like she was nuts.

"What the hell's with you?" He moved his eyes to try and see what she was staring at, but didn't understand.

"Look at the rainbow!"

He looked back over. "Yeah….so?"

"Be quiet Gajeel-kun. You don't understand." She said and turned back around to gaze at the beautiful phenomena once more.

"You done?"

"No!" She snapped. A few seconds later she said. "Now Juvia's done." And they continued walking back home.

"Hormonal much!?"

As they kept walking Juvia noticed him thinking intently. "What is it Gajeel-kun?"

"So you two fucked at the Magic Games, is that right?" He asked.

"Gajeel-kun!" Juvia hit her friend rather hard, glowering. "Do _not_ ask Juvia about that. And do _not_ call it fuck!" The rain woman was truly pissed, but the dragon slayer didn't care.

"You said fuck." He grinned. "I'm glad you at least told me sooner than later. And before stripper…..that's really saying something."

"How far along could Juvia possibly be?"

"You could be EIGHT MONTHS pregnant for all I know!" He said throwing his arms in the air.

Juvia shifted moods quite suddenly and laughed. " Well…. Juvia would look quite large by then, silly!" Gajeel had always been insensitive with his words, but at this point she was used to it. Besides, being from Phantom Lord she had a hidden dark side as well. It didn't bother her much to be less than gentle with others.

The dragon slayer smirked, causing Juvia to furrow her brow. "Don't even begin to THINK that Juvia is already fat looking! Because she has tried VERY hard to keep her weight normal even though she is so hungry!"

The man rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath " _Well… you have gained weight."_

That earned a fierce glare from the water mage. "You try craving junk food to the point you have to toss all of it just to keep yourself from eating every potato chip and piece of chalk in sight!"

"_TCH_…. I eat what I want, when I want it!" He thought for a second. "Wait….Chalk?"

"You eat _IRON!_ That is NOT junk food!" She corrected him, scornfully.

"Neither is CHALK you DOLT!"

When they got to to point where their homes were in opposite locations, Juvia turned to her friend and begged him one more time. "Are you sure you can't come over to Juvia's for a little bit?"

"Woman, you woke me up at three in the morning! I ain't spending another second with you!"

The water mage wore a mischievous grin. "Juvia thinks, you just miss Levy-san, that's all."

"What!? You just shut up! I'm outta here!" He told her and began leaving.

"Wait! Remember, don't -!"

"Yeah, I got it, won't tell anyone. Do you really think a guy like me is a gossip?" He said and headed off.

"No, I suppose not." Juvia said to herself.

* * *

Juvia sat on the floor of her bedroom, arms pulling her knees close to her, and rested her chin on them. It was an anxious morning. The days following the appointment, she had experienced a temporary high. For the first time she had felt attachment to her baby. Things were going to be okay. Her visit with the doctor had strengthened the bond she felt with her, but none of that mattered on this day. The day that made the pregnant mage feel dread.

It was Saturday.

Looking over to see the bouquet of flowers on her nightstand, she was reminded of the note. The girl was at a crossroads. Of course she was going to meet Lyon since it was the right thing to do. But what was she supposed to say to him?

To wake her brain up, she decided it was best to think about the matter while taking a long shower. Despite feeling glued to the floor, the tired mage picked herself up off the floor and made her way over to the bathroom were she turned on the shower.

She grabbed a towel and caught herself in the mirror once again spurring a personal reflection. Gone were the days that she was silly, naive Juvia. The person who stood in front of the mirror was a grown woman who had choices to make. Stepping into the shower she instantly noticed the temperature of the water.

"OWWWW!" She jumped backwards and slipped, nearly falling through the shower curtain, but instead she gripped the edge of the entrance to the shower, saving herself from another bad fall. Okay, so she wasn't naive Juvia, but she was still clumsy Juvia, she thought.

...although truthfully she was still naive too... and a little silly.

The lump in her throat was so prominent she thought she might choke. The restless angst she felt was unbearable. In that spot in her chest, where her heart used to be, there was an empty, yet aching feeling. In her head, the pregnant mage knew that Lyon was the one she should should feel closer to, being that he was the father. But still, in her heart, all that she wanted, was to be with Gray.

She had _always _loved him. But now….. the longing to be with him was all the more strong, nearly an addiction. The water mage wanted nothing more than to cling to him and never let go; it was an impulse. As much heartache as she felt seeing him, she wanted him here with her.

It was bittersweet.

After being hit by the vulcan, she had decided it was best to avoid working, even if it meant being nearer to Gray. She didn't how she was going to pay for her living expenses, but she couldn't work right now. For the time being, she had saved some money in case something like this ever happened. Yet, this wasn't what she had expected she would need it for. In fact, it was the _last_ thing she thought she would need it for. Funny how life worked.

When the water cooled a little, she stepped back into the shower. As the hot water poured down her body, her senses awakened, and her drenched skin actually tickled a little bit sending chills down her body. It was just the right temperature. It felt good._ So _good.

_"That tickles. Juvia likes it when you touch her like that!"_

_"You're hands are warm for an ice mage too." She said, moving her voice towards a more seductive tone.__He slid his hands around her curves, feeling along her waistline and moving further down. She was wet...no w__et wasn't quite the word._

_ It was more erotic than that, more explosive. She felt goosebumps all over her body as she felt the muscles of her snatch tighten and contract, pleasure rushing through her body._

_She moaned._

_"Keep going...please..."_

When she snapped out of it, Juvia found that she had been standing there under the hot water for too long. The skin on her fingers were becoming wrinkled, so she quickly rinsed her hair, washed herself, and stepped out of the shower.

Standing bending over at the sink slightly, looking down, she tried again. Concentrating hard, she crinkled her forehead. She pushed herself to replay the scene in her head a second time, but found it was useless.

The glass in the mirror was fogged up with steam. Seeing her blurred reflection in the mirror, she wondered what it was that made her feel so off. The blunette knew that her imagination could be active, but every time things like that came to her mind, it felt so real. However, the image itself was just as blurred as the reflection in the mirror.

* * *

With butterflies fluttering around in her stomach, the pregnant girl stood in front of Risa's Cafe in hesitation, biting her lip. When she finally took the plunge, she found Lyon sitting at a table, looking nervous himself. When he saw her he looked almost surprised, as if he hadn't expected her to show up at all. The water mage couldn't blame him; she had actually surprised herself a little by showing up.

"Juvia-chan….I mean Juvia." He greeted her.

"H-hello." The short response was a brief last minute stalling technique, which of course only bought her a few seconds. They ordered coffee and went back to their table to get to business. She sat across from him, apprehensive. Both gave each other brief glances and then looked away, feeling awkward.

"So how are you?" He started off going easy on her.

"Fine. You?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Am I supposed to be honest?"

The blunette was twirling a stand of hair with her finger and stopped when she finally made eye contact.

"Lyon-sama, look, everything about this is unfortunate, but Juvia can't change what happened…."

"I know." He inserted "I know you think this was all a mistake."

"..." She was at a loss for words.

"So how are you... really?"

"….." she shifted in her chair uncomfortably. The girl had hoped this would be an easier problem to face before today came. Knowing how hard unrequited love could be, she felt a pang of resentment towards herself.

"I understand you're frightened of this situation and you've probably been doing a lot of thinking about this." He wore a slight frown. "But I've been thinking about it too, so all I ask is that you hear me out."

The woman stayed quiet as a way of accepting his wishes . "You don't have to include me in your life. But please, don't exclude me from my own child's life." The desperation in his voice was undeniable. The ice mage rested his hand on hers, but she pulled away, closed her eyes, and sighed. She searched for a hidden agenda in his voice but found none.

"Juvia can understand where you're coming from, she really can." She could feel sweat drops forming and dripping down her skin. She opened her eyes and faced him, "And she's not really ready to talk about it….but then again she might never be."

"So where do we go from here?"

Juvia picked up her sleeveless cup and sipped to give herself another second to think. She gulped the hot coffee down too fast, hurting the back of her throat.

"It's hard to know. I mean, you have your own life. You should listen to what Juvia is saying and keep your life while you have it. If you listen to her, you can move on and find someone else….. someone who can give you what she can't." Although she knew that moving on was easier said than done.

"But that doesn't mean I can't help you." He told her sincerely.

The frustration that had creeped up on her during their first talk was now resurfacing. "But you can't. This is Juvia's deal."

"No… it's not!" the silver haired ice mage argued. This time, he was not going to allow her to claim the burden as her own. She was too kind, too caring, and sometimes it was a curse instead of a blessing.

"Don't you understand?" She began to raise her voice in a distressed tone. "You're going to ruin your life for a person who doesn't even love you!" As the words left her mouth she instantly regretted them. "Lyon, I'm so sorry. Juvia didn't mean it to be so-"

He shook his head as she was speaking but cut her off. "If you won't let me do it for you, then at least let me do it for her."

"About that... I don't really know if it's a girl." The blunette clarified.

"I realize that now. Apparently you can't tell this early on, not until twelve weeks at the earliest." Juvia blinked in surprise. He had done his research. It seemed that he was serious about this.

"But, I want to try and bond with this baby as much as you."

Juvia didn't reply and the man had a blank stare. "Have you told anyone?"

"Juvia told Gajeel-kun, and Natsu-san found out on his own. But, there hasn't been a good time."

"There's never a good time to tell people about this, Juvia-chan, uh…Juvia."

He paused for a moment to remember where he was going. "Listen, all I want is for you to not shut me out during this pregnancy. I just want to know what's going on; how the baby's doing, and how you're doing." The silver haired mage reasoned.

Juvia nodded her head to show acknowledgment. "Fine. Juvia can handle that. But she wants to maintain control. _She _is the one carrying the baby, so she calls the shots!" She declared.

"… Pregnancy hormones have really gotten to you haven't they Juvia-chan?"

She sighed regaining a calm state." You're right. Juvia's been a little emotional lately."

"Understandably." Lyon said, trying to comfort her.

"Lyon-sama, I want you to know that whatever happens in this pregnancy, it's not that I don't want you involved. It's just, there can't be any messing around anymore. If you father this baby, you have to accept that I want to keep the relationship as it is; friends."

The ice mage had planned to keep everything about this meeting platonic, but he couldn't help but give it one last try. "I understand what you're getting at, but the same way you can't control your feelings…. I can't control mine." He paused a little before continuing. "Juvia….when people are drunk….what they do isn't as random as people would like to believe. Sometimes, it comes from their subconscious to begin with so…. don't you think it's possible what happened may not have been a mistake?"

"You're, right, it's not a mistake." She stated confidently. "Because of her."

Lyon decided not to push his feelings any further. "Right."

"Well, sorry this has to be cut short but Juvia really better get going."

"Wait, when will I see you again?"

"Soon, Juvia promises. She'll come visit." She reassured him.

But when she stood up, he did as well and on impulse, he hugged her.

Understanding his feelings, she allowed it, just this once. It was a needed form of closure. She may not have been in love with him, but he certainly didn't deserve all he was going through. He was like Gray's bother, and somebody that important to Gray was important to her. Though the pregnant girl was prepared for the likelihood that the conflict between the two ice mages would get worse, all because of one night. It was strange that nobody mentioned Gray at all during this talk, but Juvia figured it was probably a coping mechanism, that both of them were okay with using.

When he finally released her, she spun around and bumped right into a red-haired woman, spilling her coffee everywhere. "WHOOPS! Juvia's sorry!" It took her a moment to recognize her victim, since she had no armor on. This happened only occasionally. "Erza-san?"

The requip mage gave Juvia a bewildered look before looking down at the coffee on the floor that just barely missed spilling on her. Lifting her eyes back up, she briefly glanced at Juvia and then shifted them over to Lyon who stood not far behind. They continued to bounce from Juvia to Lyon and back to Juvia. She answered, bemused.

"That's alright, Juvia... At least nobody got coffee on their clothes."

"Yes, that's true. Well, gotta go!" She replied sheepishly and scurried out the door without even cleaning up the mess.

Erza, after watching the flustered girl storm out of the cafe, turned around to face Lyon. "I'll clean it up." He offered.

The redhead's brain cogs went to work furiously. Between this and what she remembered seeing back in Crocus, she felt slightly concerned. Gray was one of her closest friends so she didn't want to see him get hurt. Though the dark haired ice mage was never entirely honest about how he felt, she knew he had feelings for Juvia. Time after time he silently proved the bond he shared with the blue haired girl. Having feelings for another blue-haired mage herself, she was even more sympathetic. Love could be cruel.

Knowing there was no immediate "threat" to what she just saw, the redhead simply took note of the strange incident and proceeded to make her way over to the table where a certain male blue-haired mage sat.

* * *

Within minutes, the blue haired girl herself had made it back to Fairy Hills.

_Hopefully, Erza-san doesn't say anything about this to anyone._

As she approached her room with her keys, she looked up and stopped walking, only inches away from the dark haired ice mage. The water mage nearly had a heart attack, once again, but this time she hid it well.

"Gray-sama?" She knitted her eyebrows together. Seeing him, she instantly forgot about Erza and Lyon.

_He couldn't possibly know, could he?_

"Oh. Hi, I uhh… was just coming over to see you."

_Definitely not, too calm._

Inside the water mage was happy to see him. The way he looked at her, she thought she saw a hint of longing in his eyes. She felt a wave of affection wash over her, but hid it as best as she could. He responded better when she controlled her urges.

"Well, Juvia's glad you planned to use a door instead of her window."

"Yeah, well…. seeing how you weren't exactly appropriately dressed last time I figured you'd be less embarrassed " He replied, not wanting to admit that his guilty pleasure _was_ embarrassing her. "And I know how you like to binge on ice-cream in _private._"

"Oh, okay." Her voice was doubtful, as was her facial expression, but she still wore a blush at the last comment.

"What?"

"Well it's just, Juvia thought you _liked_ seeing her like that." She flashed him a coy grin and turned the keys in the lock, opening the door.

The ice mage raised an eyebrow. "You haven't said things like that in a while."

The shy girl widened her grin with sincere happiness. "Well….let's just say Juvia's been deprived of her Gray-sama for too long."

Gray laughed. It'd been a while since they had been so friendly to each other. Either hell had froze over, or they both had really missed each other. The short time they were separated felt like ages. Though there was still unresolved conflict between them, neither one wanted to deal with it. Not right now.

To tell the truth, the ice mage had planned on another attempt at confronting her, in hopes of getting an honest explanation for her strange behavior. But it didn't seem like the time or place. He figured they could work out the funniness, eventually. For now, his only desire was to see her; to make sure she was okay.

"I haven't seen you around at the guild for a few days." He said leaning against the doorway.

"About that…. well, Juvia's just taking a break for a while. She thinks some stress relief would be good." The water mage said, while moving past him.

"You need stress relief?"

Gray loosely grabbed her arm and as soon as she turned to face him, he planted his lips on hers, without hesitation.

"Does this mean you're not mad at Juvia?"

"I told you before, I was never angry. Confused, maybe. But not angry."

Hearing the benign nature in his voice, Juvia drop her defenses a little, for a bit of flirtation. She put hand up to her chin, as if musing. "Gray-sama, you didn't come over here just to have sex, did you?"

Her bluntness caught him off guard. "What!? No!" He laughed nervously and averted his gaze. "Juvia sometimes you really let that imagination of yours get out of hand."

"But Gray-sama…"

"Look." He said, placing his eyes back on her " I just want to make sure things are okay between us, no matter what."

Even though, he was defensive, Juvia knew he meant what he said. Again, faced with the opportunity to tell him the truth, she passed it up. Who wouldn't? For one moment everything was okay between them. Nothing else mattered.

"Thank you, Gray-sama. Juvia knows you care." She laid her head against his bare chest, her arms around him. The closeness she felt to him was a comforting feeling, and it felt even better when he pulled her closer and reciprocated. His warm hands on her back….. were a form of therapy.

"Yeah."

Though he didn't know her secret yet, she pretended he did.

For once in a long time, they both felt like they were on the same side, on the same wavelength. This was the way it was meant to be.

If only time could stand still.

_Just a little while longer_, the two mages thought.

* * *

**A/N:** I know a lot of you feel bad for Juvia. But notice…. she technically got three hugs in two chapters! Juvia is too cute to _not_ hug.

About the chalk. Some pregnant women crave stuff like that because of the nutrients in it.

Review? Pretty Please….. with sugar on top? Once again thank you also to all of those who are following, favoriting, and reviewing this fic. That is fuel that motivates me : ) I'm sorry if I get any information wrong in this fic. I try to fact check everything, but ya know, slip ups happen.


	7. Junk Food and Boys

**A/N: **Some people are very concerned that this is not Gruvia as I previously stated. I am getting a whole lot of this, T_T, Lol. But listen, I _promise _this is not Lyvia. Although I _do _love Lyon as a character, I don't ship him with Juvia.

So, to those reviewers who are afraid that I am planning otherwise, just trust me okay? I am reading all of your reviews and definitely care what you think. You are my readers after all! But you should have confidence that I will stay true to what I said right from the beginning. I would not mislead you.

But what about the manga huh? Lyon was on the cover. How timely =)

**Superduperizee- **There _is _italic in this chap- so don't read this on your phone! Haha. ; )

* * *

At the Fairy Tail guild people were talking left and right about the apparent advances in Gray and Juvia's relationship over the past week. Neither one had said anything to the members themselves, but with all the time Gray had been spending going to see Juvia, it was obvious as far as they were concerned. Although the water mage began coming to the guild after a few days of staying at her dorm, she never took any jobs. She socialized occasionally, mostly with the ice mage, but was never seen at the request board.

Though it started as only change with Juvia, the change seemed to have a domino effect. Not only was the water mage avoiding work, it seemed that Gray had begun going on less missions as well.

He barely picked fights with Natsu lately, or Natsu didn't pick fights, no one was quite sure which it was. Oddly enough Gajeel also began to work less. Though, they figured the cause might've been because his usual partner wasn't motivated. Erza was working the usual amount, but when she was at the guild at the same time as Gray and Juvia she seemed preoccupied with watching them, unsure of whether she should say anything or not.

Lucy, being the remaining member of the Strongest team, was confused with all of them. And since all of the mages who were usually guilty of starting brawls were out of commission, the guild was strangely calm. Four mages, Lucy, Gray, Juvia, and Natsu all sat at a table, while Erza stood nearby and Gajeel watched from afar, as usual to avoid any social interactions.

Natsu who had his head laid on the table, looked bored out of his mind, but was really just tired. Lucy sat next to him across from Juvia and Gray and looked around the table from person to person, anxiously.

Trying to lighten the mood, Cana, with her usual barrel offered what she could. "Hey! You guys seem preeetttty down, haha. You want some of my magic medicine to make you feel better?"

Silence.

"How 'bout you, Juvia? You look like you could _deeeffinitely_ use a drink!" She slurred.

The water mage, at first little taken aback at the offer, shook her head. She had forgotten that of course, Cana wouldn't know she couldn't have alcohol. Nobody responded, except Lucy who looked at Cana and shrugged her shoulders.

Turning back to her fellow team mates she broke the silence. "Hey guys? I kind of need money to pay rent. When are we going to go on a mission?" The celestial spirit mage asked.

Gray, who was sitting next to Juvia across from the others, answered. "You guys go without me. I'm gonna hang here for a little bit."

"You _keep _saying that, you ice freak!" Natsu said lifting his head, glaring. His eyes then shifted to Juvia quickly and the look disappeared. He put his head back down, surrendering for the girl's sake. She needed company.

"It's not the strongest team without you, Gray." Erza added, standing adjacent to the head of the table.

Her reasoning didn't phase the ice mage. "Oh yeah? Well then don't think of it as that. Just think of it as you, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy." He said crossing his arms, uncompromising.

The real motives behind the requip mage's intentions was to get another opportunity to talk to Gray, in private. Of course, he didn't know that. She wanted to warn him that he should explain his feelings clearly to Juvia, before it was too late.

It wasn't her choice that Gray refused to leave her side, but she certainly didn't fight it, either. He was ironically, one of her few sources of comfort.

She wanted to savor these this brief moment of relative peace with him, because she knew, once she revealed the truth, that there would be chaos. But her mood was somber, because she knew it had to be today. She was ashamed to have waited this long. He _had _to know, or else things would only get harder to explain. The pregnant girl was only waiting for a moment when they were alone.

"Uhhhhhhhhh! I need rent money!" Lucy straightened her posture, sitting up, and turned to her dragon slayer friend. "NATSU!"

The pink haired boy who had started to fall asleep on the table jolted awake. "_Whaaaaaat_!" He said in a whiny voice.

"Come on!" The blonde pulled yanked Natsu by the scarf, but he resisted.

"I'm tiiiiiired!"

"Lucy, if you need a partner for your mission I'd be happy to help out." the armor clad mage offered. The celestial spirit mage accepted the offer and the two of them chose a mission and left.

Once they were gone Juvia turned to Gray, and spoke softly, and reluctantly. "Juvia needs to talk to you." There was almost an audible ache to her voice. Time had suddenly slowed down as she awaited his reply.

At first he was looking down, but then he lifted his head and sighed. "I've been waiting for you to say that."

His knowing eyes drove a dagger through her. The more he seemed ready for what she had to say, the more the pregnant mage felt unprepared.

But just as they were speaking, the guild's diminutive master came running through the guild doors. "Where's the strongest team? I need the four of you for an urgent mission."

"Sorry Gramps, it's just me and Natsu." Natsu, who was presumably sleeping perked his ear up, but kept his head on the table.

"That won't be enough people." The old man sighed as looked at who else was around. Gajeel, Juvia, Gray, and Natsu- a recipe for disaster. Gajeel and Natsu were rivals, Gray and Natsu were rivals, Juvia….well she wasn't a problem really, unless her feelings for a certain ice mage got in the way, that is.

"_Hoo boy….._" He muttered. "I suppose I have no choice; I'm going to have to send you four, Natsu, Gajeel, Gray, and Juvia" He shook his head. "But Please try and get along and be friendly toward each other." He turned towards Gray and Juvia. "But not _too_ friendly, okay?"

"B-but Juvia can't!" She replied, alarmed at the thought of putting her baby in danger again.

"Oh? And why not?" The confused old man asked.

Gajeel was quick to come to her defense, much to the surprise of all watching. "Like HELL she can go!" Everyone's eyes were on the iron dragon slayer. Natsu awoke from his slumber and perked up, fully attentive. He would _love _to see how he would explain this one.

"Errrrr….I mean….she's…kind of got….. the flu?"

While the bystanders were astonished by his behavior, Juvia picked up what he laid down. "Yes…. you see *_cough_* as you can see, Juvia is very ill. The doctor told her to _*cough_* rest and not do any hard work." Seeing Gray's apparent surprise, it was obvious to anyone with half a brain that it was a lie.

Everyone's eyes moved over to the master, curious to see his reaction to her bullshit.

The old man didn't buy it, but he also didn't have time to spare."Yes, well, I suppose I shouldn't fight with doctor's orders. Do us all a favor and go home and get some rest alright?" He was sincere about that last part; she _did_ look like she could use some rest.

All around the whispers of guild members could be heard, speculating and starting rumors.

The relieved water mage gave Gray an apologetic look and muttered a sentence just loud enough for him to hear. "Juvia will finish what she wanted to say when Gray -sama returns, okay?" She brushed against him slightly by accident as she walked by, making the ice mage feel the effect of her absence all the more.

Every little touch; every_ little thing_ she did, made him want to make her stay. He wanted to shrink her, put her in a little jar, and carry her around with him.

And she was finally going to talk to him. He knew as well as anyone else that the flu excuse had to be an outright lie. The girl was healthy just moments ago, as far as he knew.

_That faker_

He couldn't help but wonder what it was about this mission that she wanted to avoid. Was it him? There was a good chance. Since the Magic Games nothing had ever returned normal between the two of them. Things between them, had gotten better…and worse at the same time. However, only one thought had circulated through his mind since he became aware of this transformation in their relationship. Creeping up on him was this feeling he couldn't shake, something was off.

_Is it me?…. Or her?_

Just before completely exiting the water mage peeked over her shoulder and caught him looking at her. Consequently, he looked away, trying his best not to convey the unease he felt about leaving her when there was so much he needed to say and so much he needed to hear. She was escaping the conflict again, showing obvious fear at what would become of the relationship, what would become of _them._

But deep down he knew that this beyond his control.

* * *

Dying of boredom, the water mage made a list of all names she would consider for her child. Two lists, actually. One of girl's names, and one of boy's names. Even though she tried to be equal, her bias showed with the girl's list being three times as long. She couldn't help it, there were so many amazing girl names. Yes, that was her excuse. It's not that she wouldn't love her baby if it was a boy, but she was tired of males at the moment.

When she couldn't think anymore, she leaned back on her couch, various junk food wrappers surrounding her, and yawned. She had broken her vow to eat healthier for the baby. At first, she told herself "What's the harm in eating a twinky once in a while?" But one twinkly turned into one twinkly plus a brownie, plus pizza, chips, and yes, even a little ice cream.

"So sorry baby! Juvia lost control. No _more!_" She told herself, probably for the tenth time that week.

After digesting for a little bit, the girl strolled over to the kitchen and made herself something healthier, Earl Grey tea, her favorite. Conveniently it was also known to be an anti-depressant, which worked in her favor. Through these past few weeks, Juvia had learned that in difficult times, it helped to value every small gift she was given. That was why even sniffing the drink's aroma, was a slight comfort to her. When it was ready she lifted the cup to her mouth, with her prenatal vitamin in the other hand which she was instructed to take, and swallowed.

Depression had been on and off for the water mage. It came and went. Some days, she felt so in love with her baby, and others she couldn't stop worrying about her future. When that happened, she had to try and refocus her thoughts. But despite her upward thinking, it was hard to stay positive in every moment, especially with her hormones, which were a bitch.

It was the same when it came to feelings for Gray, and Lyon for that matter. After the last meeting with the latter, she couldn't feel angry with him anymore. He was more than willing to take his share of the burden, while trying to ignore his feelings for her. If she were in his shoes, she didn't know if she could be so strong.

With Gray it was a little bit different. She felt sick with herself for having avoided telling him for so long, but because he was not in the pregnancy equation, Man+Woman= Baby, she didn't have to. Still, it didn't feel right to leave him in the dark. His feelings for her seemed to get stronger for her everyday, and it hurt. yet, she missed him so much.

The guilt-ridden yet in love mage, feeling bloated, and made her way over to where her bed was, falling over clumsily on top of it.

Lying on top of her bed, eyes glued to the patterned ceiling, the future mother held her ground against the paralyzing thoughts that hit her like a gust of wind. At that moment, when she thought she would have to tell Gray, she had felt her heart shatter into a million pieces before the words even made their way out. Now that she was aware of the hurdle she had to leap, it would be that much harder to muster up the courage to take him aside when the time came.

Her time at Fairy Tail had started out great. What had happened? She laid her face against her pillow the softness rubbing against her, and shut her eyes .

Who was she kidding? She knew what happened.

Gray happened. Lyon happened. Life happened.

Underneath the covers she smelled the familiar smell of clean sheets

_The sheets under the two were no match for them, the softness of them touching her legs couldn't even compare to how they felt wrapped around his warm body. Moved partly by an answering wantonness, and partly by a desire to squeeze the breath out of him like an accordion, she separated her legs and flung them around his back. He gave an ecstatic groan and redoubled his efforts._

_Wantonness was winning; she had nearly forgotten where they were._

_Hanging on for dear life and thrilled by the ride, she arched her back and jerked, shuddering against the heat of him, the chill of the air conditioning against her, cool and electric, on her exposed backside. The only warm spot on her back was the place where his hands were, where they held her. Moaning, she melted in his arms, her legs still locked around his hips._

_She felt tears spilling slowly down her cheeks feeling what was, the purest emotion she had ever felt. He was claiming her, marking her for his own, and she accepted it fully. She truly believed that he wanted her, and would still want her after all was said and done._

_"Juvia is yours," she whispered against his lips. He rewarded her with a forceful kiss and began to move within her, sending spirals of pleasure rushing through her body. The aroused woman let her eyes close again, giving herself over completely to the feel of his lips moving down her neck, his body locked tightly to hers. She felt whole, as some part of her she hadn't even known was missing had been restored. She matched his movements as she gave herself over to passion, crying out._

_Her body tightened as his thrusts came faster, more insistent. The tension wound stronger, exploding out from her core with a shocking intensity as she felt him come inside her. Then she was floating, all of the tension draining away as she collapsed in his arms. He hugged her against his chest, and kissed her neck, running his fingers through the long hair that he loved so much. His other hand gripped her tightly._

_"Don't let go… don't"_

This time the blue haired girl found herself staring at the wall without really seeing it. She blinked her eyes back to reality. It happened again.

A dream?

* * *

The journey took a few days of traveling, much to the team's dismay of course. And as Makarov predicted, they were less than unified, probably the worst team ever formed. Gray and Natsu were functional in their usual team, but without Erza to keep them in check, they could get out of control.

Add Gajeel to the mix, and it turned into pure anarchy. But they were each individually strong, so he had faith in them. Sure enough, they had gotten the job done, but not without nearly killing each other first.

On their way back to Fairy Tail, they had stopped to rest on the side of the road near a ravine and a forest behind it. It was a fairly lifeless location in the middle of nowhere. Gajeel had gone off to take a piss somewhere amidst the trees. Happy was flying around the area to assess their location.

The two remaining sat on rocks which were a few feet apart, facing away from each other. The relationship between the two of them was complicated. They were best friends, and worst enemies, so most of the time they wanted to kill each other, but very occasionally they could get along okay. Gray shot Natsu several brief glances, each time swiftly retreating by moving his eyes away when he got his attention. Finally after several awkward minutes, the ice mage spoke. "Hey, errr….. Natsu?"

He scooted around on the rock to face the ice mage. "Yeah?"

Gray supposed he could've chosen to have this talk with Gajeel, since he knew Juvia best. But, thinking back to the situation back at guild when Juvia played hooky, it seemed like Gajeel was in cahoots with her. There was no way he was even going to try to violate the bond they had. Uncomfortable, the mage scratched at the back of his head. He didn't want to resort to this, but he was downright _desperate_. "I think something's up with Juvia. Did you notice how she faked sick?"

The pink haired boy began to sweat. He knew it was coming. The ice mage was going to interrogate him. Thanks to his loyal and trustworthy nature, he was stuck having to lie about the blue haired girl's pregnancy. "Huh. Nope, guess I didn't." He said nonchalantly. "_That's _funny."

Slightly irritated at his indifference, Gray pushed further. "You mean you haven't noticed?"

"Geez Gray, it's not like I'm a shrink or anything."

"Look I know you're not incredibly close to her, but believe me something is definitely off."

"Oh yeah? Nope, haven't noticed." The pink haired dragon slayer then began whistling and walking along the edge of the ravine aimlessly. He pointed up to the sky suddenly. "Hey! I think I just saw a Wyvern! Uh oh...you think we should call Gajeel and get out of here?"

"Where? I don't see anything." He responded doubtfully, eyes scanning the sky. He looked back at the dragon slayer and narrowed his eyes. "You trying to change the subject?"

"Yep." He said straight forwardly. He hated to seem so uncaring, but it couldn't be helped. A promise was a promise. Though, he did feel for the guy, not knowing that the girl he was _obviously_ obsessed with was pregnant with another man's child. Hell, not just another man either, the guy he grew up with as a brother.

"Why?"

"Oi! Why are you talking to me about this anyway?" The fire mage asked.

His eyes moved upward as if wondering the exact same thing. "I don't know."

Not knowing how else to handle it, the fire mage turned the gun on Gray. "You know what I think? I think there's something off with _you." _He nodded his head confidently. Looking like he was caught redhanded, Gray became defensive "What? No! it's her problem, not mine! I mean, I guess it's sort of my problem..."

_What the fuck?! I was right?! _Natsu patted himself on the back mentally, though surprised at his own win.

"So what'd you do this time ice perv?"

He breathed in deeply and released the air back into the atmosphere. To say the words out loud would be no easy feat. It would be validating what was hidden inside his head. It wasn't until the words rolled off his tongue that he realized how much he was bothered by the fact. Up until now it could have passed as a piece of his sub conscious mind, but now it was being brought to the forefront. It was real and it had affected him. "I kinda…slept with with her."

Natsu started laughing and slapping his knee as if it was the most hilarious thing he'd ever heard. "That's a good one Gray!"

"Natsu! I'm serious!" He said, gritting his teeth.

The dragon slayer's expression then made an abrupt change. His brain short circuited "Wha..?"

Soon after the confession, Gajeel, who had dragon slayer ears torpedoed out of the bushes behind the ravine straight at Gray. He punched him in the gut, unexpectedly, knocking the wind out of him "ARRRRRRRRRGGHHHHHH!You ASSHOLE!"The force was enough to shove him backwards, and he barely managed to stay on his feet. He bent over and held his stomach in pain.

Recovering from the fist planted in his stomach he replied, pissed. "BAKA! What the hell was that for?! You're lucky I'm not in the mood to fight!"

"You are such a PUSSY! I swear I am gonna strangle you stripper. Do you REALIZE that she's…" He was about to let it slip.

"SHUT UP!" Natsu barked impulsively as a reminder.

Gray scrunched his eyebrows together and looked at his pink haired frienemy, with a quizzical look. Natsu scratched the back of his head. "I was talking to you." he explained to the ice mage.

"I didn't say anything" He pointed out, unable to keep up with dragon slayers' random outbursts.

"Well, you _looked_ like you were about to, and I didn't wanna hear it!"

The dark haired ice mage crinkled his forehead. "…What?... Well, whatever." He turned to Gajeel. "And why were you listening? I was talking to Natsu!"

"He's right though, you are a pussy! Why do you gotta stick your dick up everything?! Err- I mean everybody!" Natsu interrupted.

"Shut up, Natsu... and why the fuck do you care anyways!?" He retaliated.

"I care because…. well, that's not important! You're a pussy, that's what's important!"

"Will you stop saying that?! It's not a crime to sleep with someone! And make up your mind, am I a pussy or a dick?" He said defensively, completely oblivious to the real source of their anger.

"Pussy. I said you were a pussy, but put your _dick_ up everyone."

Gajeel decided to put his two cents in "Cut the crap! You know she has feelings for you- why...I oughtta...!" The iron dragon slayer still wanted so badly to dump the bad news on him, but he was a man who kept his word, like his other fellow dragon slayer. He also wanted to throttle the man, so he kept his distance, afraid he would soon have to face murder charges.

"Yeah! You haven't even told her how you feel! Why are messing around with her?" Natsu added, another attempt to appear sensible.

It didn't work for the dark haired man and he was thoroughly confused. "Since when are you guys so understanding of women?" He said pessimistically.

Neither one knew what to say, so they just shrugged their shoulders, leaving the ice mage completed bewildered at their behavior.

"I've tried and tried to get it out of her." The ice mage looked hurt.

"I even talked to her about it...or...atleast I think she knows what we were talking about" He shut his eyes and shook his head slowly in regret. "But she acts like she doesn't even remember!"

"Wait! Whooaaaaa! So you've been testing her? You're even lower than I thought!" The pink haired dragon slayer accused.

"I was not testing her! I just need to hear it from her mouth. I don't want to bring it up if….." He trailed off. Since the ice mage was looking down at his feet, the two dragon slayers were panicking, taking turns using a colorful range of gestures and facial expressions at each other behind his back, resembling a form of sign language. What the hell were they supposed to do?

"I know I was drunk….. but I can remember it… so clearly…. she-"

He clenched his fist, sure of what he firmly believed.

"She was there with me."

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, I _know_ you all have something to say about this. I'll just leave it at that... although I do hope nobody assassinates me in my sleep because she hasn't told him yet though :O

Apologies if the language offends anybody. I grew up with A LOT of that, so I'm a little desensitized. Guys talk like that and it _is _rated M.

Will you please do this paranoid girl a favor and review?


	8. Rock Bottom

**A/N:** I'm lucky I got to write this chapter at all! You see I own a parrot whom is very demanding at at times (Her name is Kitty btw…she makes a purring sound Lol) , and she doesn't like that my laptop seems to get a lot of my attention during the hours I'm around. I usually keep her in the cage while I'm writing... but let's just say she's incredibly intelligent O_O

Here's the next chap : ) Wait…no first I forgot something! Happy birthday to **DarkHope (a.k.a. Marie)!** (It is today right? If not, Happy early or late birthday!) I was almost going to put this chap out tomorrow, but when I found out about your birthday I worked to complete this just so I could sing to you! *Starts singing* Haaaaapy biiirthday to you! Haaaappy biiiirthday to you Haaaappy biiiirthday dear…. okay I can take a hint. You guys don't like my singing voice do you? *sigh* I practiced that.

* * *

_"Juvia can't believe this is happening."_

_The woman prayed to God that this night would never end. The ache between their legs was impossible to ignore. It represented the tension, the yearning that had always been present between them. He put his arm back around her and pulled her close, so her head rested on his chest. Under the covers, his legs wrapped around hers. She flipped over so that she straddled him, her hands braced on the smooth muscles of his bare chest. His cock stirred beneath her and she gave a little wiggle, making him gasp._

_She smiled. "Juvia wants to be in charge and on top this time!" He let out a small laugh and allowed his mouth to explore all her body liberally. He put one of her tits in his mouth and sucked the life out of the mound. _

_He had to admit, she had a nice pair. He had known they looked good even hidden under clothes, but only now could he fully just how amazing they truly were, underneath. His other hand moved down her and reached between her legs, where her sensitive area was, her clit. She returned the favor and moved her fingers up between his thighs and grabbed him. The girl teased him by letting his cock start to slide in and then pulling away. They had been doing this continuously, trying to create build up. It was working… almost too well. He pressed harder against her with his now erect member as she let out another moan and her breaths shallowed._

_"Holy shit!" The man couldn't help but cry the words out followed by a groan._

_He was trying hard not to be rough with her, but it was a tricky task, with how irresistible she was. He had to stop himself from simply slamming into her like an animal, and instead became in tune with her. With every gesture expressing the desperate question, he provided the answer, satisfying the water mage's every need. The ice mage wasn't so much trying to satisfy his own needs as he was hers. Her pleasure was his. _

_The walls of her clutch tightened as she began to feel his member attack like a hungry wolf, and let out another cry, giving the man who was penetrating a satisfaction he could never explain. He had never known that a person could be so aroused. Even upon reaching the typical orgasm, one could not know how satisfying she was, even just in foreplay. There was nothing in all of existence that could compare to this feeling._

_More than ready for where this was going, he found he couldn't hold back any longer and began thrusting, prompting the blue haired girl to cry out uncontrollably. He was so good, the best as far as she was concerned. With all of the noise they knew that whoever was in the nearby room was going to be slightly annoyed at their "cuddling". They didn't care. This was the moment of their lives._

_She was truly moved at the way he had held back in the beginning, not wanting to do anything that might cause regret for the both of them. Still, that had made her want him to do whatever the hell he wanted all the more. Every longing, every small ounce of desire in all of her being was being fed. Once given permission, the girl knew her partner had no way of yielding to the power of lust. Yet, the need seemed to grow even larger every moment, as did his cock. _

_They were wanting more and more and they allowed their bodies to indulge in the immeasurable amount of pleasure. Being inside her made him feel like for once he claimed what was his, instead of letting it slip from his grasp again. There was no way in hell he was turning back now, at this point. But if only she hadn't looked so provocative for that split second, her breasts spilling out of her outfit like that. The night might've gone in a totally different direction. The man looked in the girl's eyes, they were filled with lust, and longing….. so were his._

_Having him in between her legs was a heaven she couldn't describe. It was not only physically pleasurable, but emotionally as well. With each thrust, he pushed harder, causing the pleasure to increase and unleashing fiery, like shock waves rendering her unable to maintain control of herself. The mutual arousal between them was insermountable. It was true, she was letting him inside her, he was putting himself into her, they were together. She could remain like that forever._

The water mage's eyes shot open. This time it really had been a dream, a recurring one nonetheless. It wasn't a simple "sexy dream" though. She felt something in it, one might call it… love? But why was she having these dreams? It didn't make sense.

To a certain pregnant blue-haired girl that now meant something entirely different to her than it did before her pregnancy. Before conception love was an unbridled feeling, so free, without limitations, without boundaries. But now reality had begun to rear it's ugly head. With love came sacrifice as she had known previously, but in a different way. There had always been a sort of immediacy to the sacrifices she knew, risking one's life for another, it was easy compared to what she was up against now.

Telling Gray was the right thing to do, but it would mean a painful realization for the both of them that there would forever be something dividing them; a child. She couldn't raise a child to believe that Gray was their father, while denying Lyon's existence. And even if the child grew up believing that, there was no guaranteeing that Gray would love the child as his own. A child was supposed to bring two people together. Instead, in Juvia's mind, it was a driving wedge between them, one that was permanent.

The morning was calm and peaceful. The air warm and moist, and the pregnant mage saw that she had a radiant glow surrounding her. It was one of those good days, the ones when she had everything in the world to look forward to. She could see a light at the end of the tunnel; since a person has nowhere to go but up once they've hit rock-bottom. Little did she know, her thought had jinxed her.

As the woman was making her tea she felt a figure towering over her. She let out a small shriek and turned around.

"JUVIA! I dunno what the fuck's going on, but the naked bas-" It was the iron dragon slayer, who had climbed in through the window.

"What are you talking about Gajeel-kun!? Slow down!"

"He-" Suddenly, she heard a light tapping noise on the door.

"Get out! Guys are not supposed to be here! If it's Erza-san she will be furious!" The girl commanded, shoving him.

"OKAY OKAY! But don't say I didn't warn you!"

"_Shhhhhh!" _And with that she pushed him over to the window and gave him a death glare. He didn't want to mess with it, so he left plain and simple.

She had not in the least bit expected who she would find standing there, at her door. Even though it was almost noon, she had just woken up and was still wearing her pajamas, which were very nice, but still not suitable to be seen wearing in front of her love interest.

"Hey." The dark haired ice mage almost looked caught off guard when she opened the door, as she was. Neither one was even remotely ready for what came next.

"G-gray-sama! Y-you're back awfully soon-" She stuttered, feeling her heart turn into a frog, trying to bounce out of her chest.

"Is that a bad thing?" He asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

The pregnant girl felt a pang of guilt when she realized how negative she sounded about his return. In truth, a part of her wanted him to be there, but the other half of her wanted to shut the door in his face.

"How do you keep coming up here without anyone catching you?" She had told him the first time that she didn't want him coming through her window, but she also didn't think he would listen, since, he didn't usually listen to Lucy's pleas.

"Oh, that, well last time I was pretty sneaky, but this time I talked to Erza and she let me come up here."

"Oh." The water mage felt a wave of anxiety wash over her at the mention of the redhead. She had seen her and Lyon talking at the cafe and she wasn't sure what else she knew. Did she hear anything else? Or was it just the sight of the two that made her react awkwardly to meeting the blue-haired girl there?

"So…. how are you feeling?"

"What?"

"You said you had the flu… so are you feeling better?" he asked her, knowing it had been a lie, but was polite anyway. There also had to be some sort of excuse for him to come see her in the first place; well, not really, but he wanted one. He didn't want to appear desperate to see her or anything.

"Oh, yes, Juvia's doing much better. Come inside Gray-sama, please." She requested, motioning him to enter through the doorway. "Just let Juvia go get dressed quickly." She said and briefly excused herself.

The ice mage obeyed her request and followed her inside. He proceeded over to the sofa and sat down, waiting patiently. As she strolled out of the room he noticed the back of her pajama pants...they said _Bootylicious. _And then he realized he was staring at her ass, which was in essence, 'bootylicious' though he would never say that word.

After a few moments she came out. "Do you want some tea?"

"What type?" he asked.

"Earl Grey."

"_Of course" _He muttered.

"What?"

"I said, no thanks."

On the coffee table, he saw a notebook and picked it up. Written on it was a list of several names. Some were circled, others were crossed out and some remained as they were. _Lots _of girl's names he noticed.

"What's that?"

The water mage was quick to take action. "Nothing!" The water mage moved over to him like lightning and snatched the notebook away from him. She ripped out the page and crumpled it up before he could investigate it further, tossing it in the garbage. She didn't want him to find out any other way other than hearing it from her mouth by her own will. The ice mage looked at the trash can and then over to the girl once again amazed by her unpredictable nature.

"Gray-sama I-"

He cut her off. "Wait. Before you say anything I have something to s-"

She returned the favor. "Sorry but no, Juvia _really_ needs to talk first. She is angry at herself for even waiting this long."

He could have argued with her, but it was clear that she was adamant about being the first to speak. So instead, he let her have her way, still secretly hoping that she would be the one to bring up the elephant in the room. This seemingly new Juvia was even more difficult to deal with than the old one.

The ice mage reluctantly sighed, relinquishing control of the conversation to the nearly frantic girl. Her eyes were telling him he should prepare himself, much like his own gut had told him long before. Gray was not all that intuitive of a person, but when there was an uncharacteristic change in Juvia's demeanor, it mean something.

The water mage could feel her heart start to race. She was not ready for this in the slightest, but if there were ever a time to say it, it was now.

"Gray-sama, back at the Magic Games, a lot of things happened….." The ice mage nodded his head, truly believing that this conversation was finally going in the right direction. Though it was an awkward topic of discussion, he knew there were things that had to be said.

"I…." She tried to control her breathing. Second attempt. "I….." This was getting ridiculous, her concern for Gray's feelings were becoming a road blocker, and it was making them both impatient.

"Yes?" He said trying not sound irritated.

It was time for her third and final attempt. "Well you know this is not easy to say."

"Don't hold back what's on your mind."

The nervous girl's drifted over to the trashcan, finding a target to displace her eyes away from the man she loved. For one distracted moment she realized she would have to recreate the name list that she worked on for so long.

Turning her attention back to Gray she finally said it. "I slept with Lyon-sama." She paused to make sure the poor guy didn't spontaneously combust. "Juvia's expecting." She spoke softly but the walls around them gasped and for a minute the earth stopped orbiting the sun and the planets were all misaligned.

These were life-changing words, no matter how they were said. The pregnant mage could have said it in the gentlest way possible, and it still would have caused the man to almost drop dead. The pregnant girl waited for the information to catch up with Gray, who's reaction was thoroughly delayed, to the point that she half wondered if his heart had stopped.

"…"

"Did you hear me?"

"….."

"Please say something Gray-sama. Juvia _needs _you to say something." She begged, though not entirely wanting to hear what he had to say to her confession.

"…..how far along?" He mumbled, feeling dizzy.

"Excuse me?"

"_When_ did this happen?"

"The last night in Crocus. Juvia had a little bit too much to drink…."

The ice mage's eyes suddenly widened. "Juvia? What the _FUCK_ kind of BULL are you talking? This is NOT funny!" He shook his head in disbelief.

She started to move away from him, slightly uncomfortable with his reaction. "I'm sorry, did you think Juvia finds this funny?" She said with a surprising sarcastic and cold edge to her voice.

Little by little they were inching towards the "climax" of their argument, which had not even come yet, despite the news. But it was hard for the ice mage to say what he wanted. The girl might as well have stabbed him and thrown him into the ocean with Ur.

"Why?" Was all he could manage to say.

After all the training the water mage had done to hold back tears, it was all in vain as they spilled down her face.

"Juvia was drunk so…"

The man stood up. "No." The unsettled girl looked up at the man who was riddled with confusion. "Why are you bringing up that bastard, Lyon? Is that just you're sick way of being cruel? You're not making any sense!"

"Well, what do you expect? Juvia has to use his name, since she thought you should know who-"

"Stop. just _stop_." The man turned to glance out the window, trying to compose himself. He kept his eyes fixated on the view of the hills outside. "Stop doing this. WHY are you acting like it never happened?"

"Like what never happened?"

He turned towards her and couldn't help but lose his cool. "Have you lost it?! We SLEPT together! How can you deny that fact?! You're pregnant!" He shouted, and instantly regretted it. Seeing the despair in Juvia's eyes made him hate himself, she more the slightly uncomfortable at this point.

"….."

"Now you're the one who's got nothing to say?" He said calming just enough to reassure her his anger wasn't anything to be afraid of, unsure if that was the cause of her silence.

"Gray sama…" Her head was spinning, confused at his intentions. "Why would you say that?"

"Because we did. " Gray took a seat back on the sofa and buried his face in his hands. "You're pregnant, _what the hell…_ Wait, are you telling me that~that you slept with Lyon too?!" The information she had told him was finally really sinking in, giving rise to boiling rage under his skin. She truly believed it was the other man's baby. If this was true, it was his worst fear being realized; Lyon had _had_ her.

That bastard had taken advantage of her while she was vulnerable, something Gray would never do….well at least if he didn't think that she would made the same choice had she been sober. The other man knew she didn't have feelings for him so would he really…?The dark haired man was seeing red. He wanted the other ice mage to die a slow and painful death. Yet even with the information that came out of Juvia's mouth, he had a hard time truly believing it.

_No, it's not possible_

Juvia's mouth was open but she couldn't sound out the words It suddenly hit her, a terrifying yet likely possibility; did she sleep with _both_ of them? She had been drunk as fuck, and she was well aware of what she was capable of when in that state. If she could sleep with one guy on a whim… why not two? All that pent up attraction she had for Gray may have been projected onto not one, but two different people. Feeling faintish she started to lose balance and sat back down on the couch next to him.

He was firm with his claim and she knew he had no reason to lie. But this…this was not what she had expected to hear from his mouth in a millions years. _Never_ did she even _suspect_ she had been with another partner, let alone Gray, that night.

How did she move from being in bed with one mage to the other, in one night? And without the other one knowing? It was no use. She couldn't remember _anything_ about Gray. Granted, there was a lot she didn't remember about being with Lyon, but that the last person she could recall in her memory.

"Lyon…..I swear to God he is going to PAY for this! How long has he known?" Whatever the truth was, the ice mage was pissed nonetheless.

"Well, Juvia told him a little after she found out. I wanted to tell you too but, things kept happening….." The blue haired girl instantly felt stupid when the words came out. She knew it was only her fault she didn't tell him sooner.

"BULL! You could have told me and you KNOW it! And Can you PLEASE explain why you're so _sure_ it's HIS?"

"W-well that's what I thought! _u-until now, that is…." _She muttered under her breath trying to figure it out. " Gray-sama, I-I-I don't know! Please, you're confusing me!" She turned away from him, unable to handle the lack of understanding that showed in his body language.

"DON"T BE! You _shouldn't_ be! _I _was with you! Come on! You remember!"

The girl closed her eyes and shook her head, the tears still coming. Suddenly she felt a warmth on her lips. She opened her eyes realizing it was Gray.

_Why is he kissing Juvia right now?!_

He took a step backwards. "Did that even trigger your memory in the _slightest_?" She shook her head still trying to process his random action.

Juvia found her confidence in all of this was, inevitably faltering. These conversations never went the way she planned, she was too hard to figure out for either one of the ice mages. Still, she didn't want their talk to go to waste, but it was going nowhere. "I'm truly sorry but Lyon…"

"SHUT UP! _Don't _say that name!"

"Gray….you weren't even around. I-I don't understand..." She left out his honorific, though not consciously aware of it. This wasn't going to work; her hormones couldn't take it. She stormed over to the door and opened it for him. "Please leave."

"Juvia, shut the door. I came over here to straighten this mess out, and God-dammit we're _going_ to straighten it out!" He paused to get a hold of himself. "Shut the door." he pleaded one more time.

She was frozen in place, torn, leaving the door open in silence for a prolonged moment while her eyes glued to the carpet flooring. She knew he was angry, but she thought she saw a few tears in his eyes as well, which made her realize exactly what he was feeling about this . Still, the pregnant mage didn't think she could deal with it at the moment. He was lashing out at her because of the hurt. "Juvia said to leave."

"No! You've waited all this time to know where we stand right? Trust me, I _wanted _to believe that I only slept with you because I was drunk….. and as much as I want to deny it, that's not true! I don't know where you're getting all this SHIT about Lyon being the father, but believe me, that's all it is; _shit!_ You were with _me_! Don't TELL me you were with _him_!" It was more of a plea than a statement. He wanted her to tell him it was all a lie, that she hadn't slept with Lyon.

"I love you, Gray." She uttered the words in the purest way possible.

He began to walk out, obeying her wishes. But before he made it all the way out, she asked the question. "Why is it so hard to say you love Juvia?"

"….." He stopped only for a second but he couldn't so much as look at her.

"Don't forget this." She said handing him the shirt which he had stripped off at some point during the visit.

"Thanks." At least he still had manners.

Juvia shut the door behind him and slid down against it onto the floor, burying her eyes in her hands, to cry her eyes out.

Apparently, she _hadn't_ hit rock-bottom.

* * *

After spending a lot of time alone, Gray finally made another appearance at the guild, and Juvia was nowhere to be seen. He didn't expect that she would be. Honestly he couldn't blame her, if he was in her position he would avoid him too. Truthfully he did feel bad and he had to admit, he could've taken it a little better. But he also knew he had a right to be angry with her. She had purposefully deceived him this whole time. And to top it all off, she claimed to have slept with Lyon, of all people. She had lied and pretended it was okay.

But even with all the anger he felt, he knew that it must've been hard for her too. There was probably a reason she waited so long to tell him and he wished he wasn't aware of it. She was afraid of how he would react; she was afraid of his temper. Still, he had blown up at her, confirming her fear that he wouldn't accept the pregnancy. Yet, it wasn't the pregnancy he didn't accept, it was her denial of the truth that urked him, and the involvement of the other ice mage.

Lyon had been like a brother to him, but this kind of betrayal…. was unacceptable. It was disgusting to the dark haired man and he would not take it lying down. How _dare_ he do something like this to him? No; how _dare_ he do this to Juvia? Gray didn't quite know what to think of her claim that she slept with Lyon, but one thing he did know was that that guy was _definitely_ guilty of something. It left a bad taste in his mouth.

Thinking back he realized that Erza had tried to warn him one last time before he went to see her. He didn't exactly knew what she knew, but either way the requip mage must've known something was off at the very least.

_"Erza, I just need to see Juvia, I need to talk to her."_

_The red-haired woman looked worried. "Well, alright just this once, but Gray…"_

_"Yeah?" He asked a little impatiently._

_"Don't blow up at her, it won't help anything. She's sensitive and it'd only make things worse if you overreact."_

_The ice mage felt a bit confused at her concern. He could get irritated, but not as easily as she made it seem. However, he didn't feel like probing more about what she meant. It didn't at this point, all that mattered was that he settle things with Juvia. Erza was one of his best friends, she was probably just being overly concerned about this._

_"I'll keep that in mind."_

_"Her room is-"_

_"Yeah, yeah, I know which one it is." He said running off in the right direction._

"Hey, Gray." The ice mage looked up to see the pink haired idiot standing by him. "How's it goin'?"

"Aren't you supposed to call me a popsicle or something?"

"Yeah, you're probably right. But eh… don't really feel like it. So, have you t-"

"Yep." He said and took a sip of his drink. "She's pregnant. She's _been_ pregnant." He didn't know whether it was meant to be kept a secret at this point, but he didn't care. It was just Natsu. The man waited for the fire mage to show some form of shock, but it never came.

"Sorry, man."

"What the hell are you sorry for? It's not your fault she didn't tell me sooner."

"Well to tell the truth-"

"Don't tell me….?!"

The dragon slayer wore a sheepish grin.

"You knew?! But how?! Why didn't you say something!?" _Now_ it all made sense, why he cared so much that he slept with Juvia. Obviously, because Natsu received misleading information from her, he had originally thought that Lyon was the father. But the dark haired man _knew_ it couldn't be true. He refused to believe that the bastard was even capable of impregnating her.

"You didn't ask! And I'm a dragon slayer, need I say more? I mean I don't know what's going on with the whole Lyon stuff but…"

Under any other circumstance, the ice mage would have started a brawl with the pink haired retard for not telling him what he knew before. Instead he let it slide. What did it matter anyways? He knew now and it was better to find out from the pregnant woman herself.

"_Don't_ bring him up. I don't know why she's so confused but let's get something straight-she is pregnant because of _me_, not him." He gulped down more of his drink. "It sickens me to even think that he's involved in this whole mess."

"Do really know that? Let's face it Gray, she could've gotten tired of waiting for you and-"

"Shut up Natsu." He commanded calmly. Though he was angry with him, Gray knew he had to keep his voice down if he didn't want someone to hear.

"YOU shut up! And sheesh! I thought you and that other guy made up a long time ago! "

"_Quiet..._This isn't the same grudge anymore, Natsu, it's different. It's _unforgivable_."

"I don't understand though, you _said_ there's no way it's Lyon's right? So why are you holding something against him if he didn't actually do anything?"

The ice mage glared at him, prompting the dragon slayer to defend himself. "Just sayin'!"

He had a point and the ice mage didn't know if he was just in denial or he was just so confused by it all that he didn't know what to feel. There had to be a reason she was so convinced it was Lyon's and he didn't want to so much as _entertain_ the thought. Coming to the conclusion that he couldn't reach one,the dark haired man changed the subject.

The ice mage sighed. "So she never said _anything_ about me to you?"

"Nope. She was pretty damn sure it was that Lyon guy's; in fact she was all upset that you _weren't_ the father. I dunno what the real deal is, but she definitely didn't think it was yours for one reason or another.

That was it then, she wasn't playing games. The girl truly had no idea that she slept with him. Her memories were completely erased, leaving her to rely completely on his word.

_She must think I'm crazy_. But he knew he wasn't; there was no doubt in his mind that he knew what he knew. He couldn't make something up like that; he didn't have the imagination for it. To be honest he thought she was the crazy one.

"Well Alllllright, i guess you guys got issues to sort out, huh? Good luck with that."

"Yeah, fine, whatever." Gray said waving him off.

Natsu started to walk away but then stopped in his tracks. "I hope things get better for you two or… I guess the three of you." He said, sincerely. "Seriously."

"Don't say three." Gray was annoyed at the inclusion of the other light haired ice mage.

"Why?" Natsu asked, turning around.

"Because there_ are not_ three people involved in this."

"Yes there are." The pink haired boy argued.

"I _said _don't mention that bastard!"

"I don't mean him you idiot!"

"…...?"

Natsu looked both ways to make sure nobody was listening, and whispered.

"The _baby._"

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry, upsetting chapter. But it had to be done. Gray is the type of guy who can really react negatively to things. This is because of his feelings for Juvia. It would be troubling if he was just like "Oh, you're pregnant? Lyon's? Mine? Oh what the hell, who really cares who the father is! Have fun with your pregnancy!"

But nope he's pretty mad at her, but blaming Lyon as well. It's all because… deep down he's _sensitive_. He expresses it differently than Juvia.

So once again thank you to all my followers, favoriters, and reviewers. Words can't describe how much I appreciate it! But I still need to know your reactions throughout the story, so how did that make you feel? If you feel negatively about this chapter that is okay because Gray and Juvia are definitely going through a "rough patch". I didn't mean to make it angsty, but I'm also not afraid of heavy emotions.

Another thing, apologies if there are a lot of mistakes or any nonsense. I wrote this at 4 am. This was a doozy of a chap to write, and I am unsure of it, so do me a favor and review? Do you like it? dislike it? The more feedback I get the more I motivated I am to keeping going and update fast!


	9. War

First of all, thank you to those who did review! This is a confusing story isn't it? For those who have an account, you know that I usually will PM a response to reviews. But since you can't do that with a guest, I thought I would answer a couple of them on here.

To **Juvia lover: **Yeah, I actually agree with you. The talk with Natsu in the last chapter was so that Gray would have some food for thought. Thank you for your input!

To **Traycie:** Hmmmm... yes, you make a good point. To be perfectly candid, I have never slept with two people on the same night,so I hadn't thought of the possibility of the second guy noticing any "signs". I think that it's kind of a gray (no pun intended) area. I feel it would depend on a variety of factors. Either way, Gray really is not going along with what Juvia is saying. But he's still confused because he doesn't understand why she thinks she slept with Lyon. (I'm not implying she did or didn't though), any ways thank you!

Just so everybody's on the same page somewhat here's the situation; Gray is 100% percent sure he remembers being with her. Juvia is one confused girl. The only thing she is _sure _of is that Lyon is the last person she remembers at all. But she doesn't remember any actual sex. Also, she is passing off any other dreams/flashbacks as being false or at least not accepting them fully as truth yet.

* * *

Down at his thinking spot, Gray nearly fell into the water with how off balance he was. He had a stagger to his step as he moved towards the very edge of the rocks to cast the current bottle he'd been drinking into the ocean. It sunk to the bottom of the deep, murky, blue waters.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU CAUSE?!" He screamed as if it was all that particular bottle's fault. That bottle was a bastard, and an unapologetic one at that.

He turned and began to walk away from the water but hit an invisible barrier. He looked over his shoulder at the vast body of water. The stubborn man crossed his arms indignantly. "Stupid girl, I don't need her." though, he didn't believe himself so he placed the blame back on the drink "And I don't need any damn alcohol either!"

"YOU HEAR ME?! I DON"T NEED YOU!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs.

The man looked proud of his accomplishment. not that it really accomplished anything, except for getting rid of the tenth bottle. It didn't matter…..he could get more. But, a seagull flew by in a flash, causing him to become distracted an. lose his footing and fall below the waves.

As he came up for air, he coughed out the water that had started to fill his lungs. "Damn it!"

The ice mage climbed up on the rocks, and sat there, soaking wet. He didn't feel like going anywhere so he picked up a pebble and tossed it. One skip. Two skips. Three skips.

_Ker-plunk_!

Of course, water was _her, _element; it always would be. The man was just a wannabe professional stone skipper. As much as he wanted, as much as he tried, he would never be the best at anything. Even in his own element, Lyon had beaten him countless times, and in his love life….well he wouldn't go there.

The one thing he was always sure of, was that Juvia would always be by his side, but now, there was uncertainty between them, their future held uncertainty as well. But he knew, that he could've never become the person he was without her, and now he had developed a need for her that was stronger than words.

Somehow knowing about the pregnancy didn't really change anything. He had felt the disconnect and pain she kept deep inside for a long time. It was almost as if he had known she was pregnant all along, yet hadn't.

But it was a good thing, because had it not been working on his subconscious for a long time, he wasn't sure if he would have made it out of her dorm without doing something he would regret.

For some reason, being drunk, actually gave his mind an artificial, yet very effective clarity of mind. He was going to be a father, and he was going to have to deal with a mother who couldn't even remember the fact. She didn't _know_ who he was, because if she did, she would _know _that it was his baby she was carrying.

_His _baby.

But why was she in the dark? Where did she even get that fucked up _idea _from?

The baby was his and she was his. There wasn't an opposing side to the matter. The _last _person he had suspected would have trouble accepting the idea was Juvia. Though it had taken him a long time to figure out his own feelings, he knew that she had been after him since day one. And now, at the worst of times she was going through some sort mental or emotional crisis.

Her subconscious was in denial for a reason he couldn't understand if he tried. But he had no desire to understand it. If there was anything he had learned from his experiences it was that gut feelings didn't lie. Lyon sleeping with Juvia didn't make sense and he refused to believe anything else could be true.

He wouldn't be able to convince her of anything else unless he got to the source of her evidence. He had made the assumption that if she couldn't remember sleeping with him, there must have been some sort of false belief or memory the was messing with her.

He needed to get to the bottom of this.

"ARGGGGGHHHH! LYOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN!" He called out over the waters, as if the other man could hear him from where he was. Maybe the hysteria in his voice would supernaturally reach the other man's ears, so he could feel the restrained aggression just waiting to be unleashed on him.

He breathed in. "Lyon… what the _fuck_ did you do to make her think she's having _your_ child? Juvia would _never _sleep with you!

_Damn it Ur….what the hell is going on? _He asked his former mentor as if she had all the answers. Though, he found that, usually she did. If ever in a bind, it helped him to come and talk to her. But instead of listening to what she actually had to say, he heard what he wanted; that Juvia and Lyon were both guilty sinners; Juvia for deceiving him, and Lyon for several reasons, but mostly for simply existing.

Despite the fact that Lyon was one of Ur's students as well, he heard the deceased ice mage tell him that he was the victim and the other ice mage was the villain. The drunk man was too distracted with his own agenda to effectively hear his teacher's still and gentle voice tell him that he was blinded by the unfair injustice he had been done, and needed to think before he let his anger get the best of him .

But Natsu was right, in all of the mess somehow the baby's presence had been obscured. There was a baby in the confused girl's belly, and she didn't even know who it belonged to. If Juvia couldn't get past whatever was playing with her head, he needed to get to the root cause of the problem, the root of all evil, which was not money, but Lyon.

Unaware that the real Ur was probably face palming, he made a decision. That bastard was _not_ going to get away with using ruthless tactics to claim her. The woman and child were both his and nobody was going to take that away from him.

_Nobody_.

* * *

Meanwhile, Juvia opened her eyes to a seering pain on the bottom left side of her face.

"AHHHHHHHH!" She let out a cry that had more gasp than voice and pulled away from the flat iron on the floor. She lightly touched the effected area with her hand, still sitting on the cold bathroom floor.

Now how did this happen? Oh yes. She had been attempting to straighten her hair, after fiddling with it for a while, out of boredom. But then everything had gone black. Back on her feet, the woman who was still disoriented, squinted her eyes trying to see only one Juvia in the mirror instead of three.

She darted into the kitchen, flicked the faucet's handle and put her face under the cold water rushing down.

Suddenly, Juvia heard a knock on the door which scared her shitless, since the last she opened the door, it didn't turn out so well. Thinking fast, she grabbed a washcloth and soaked it. After squeezing it, she held the cloth to her face and she swore she could hear a sizzling sound. She let out another breath of air from the pain. Recovering,the girl made her way over to the door.

"Lucy-san?"

"Hi, Juvia!" The blonde's smile soon faded upon seeing the side of the pregnant girl's face.

"What do you want?" The blunette asked in a mildly unfriendly way. She wasn't too thrilled to see her 'love rival'. though, she was past that stage.

Lucy gasped. "What happened?!

"What do you mean?" The water mage questioned dumbly.

"Your face! How did you get that?!"

Remembering the cloth pressed against her cheek, she replied. "Oh, this. It's nothing. Juvia just, um…..fainted and fell on top of her flat iron."

The celestial spirit mage lifted an eyebrow. "You fainted? Are you okay then?" Lucy actually didn't know Juvia owned a flat iron, since her hair was never straight. She shrugged her shoulders in her head.

"Why are you here?" The water mage asked, still not inviting the other woman inside.

"I just came over to see how you're doing."

"What do you mean?" The water mage questioned, assessing the blonde's knowledge. She wasn't sure what she knew, but the suspicious girl wouldn't be surprised if she had found out from one of the big mouthed dragon slayers.

"Well, it's just seemed like for a while, you and Gray were starting to, you know, get closer. And now…Gray's been acting weird. I don't know what happened, but it's not healthy to keep yourself locked up in your room like that, Juvia.

The pregnant girl replied, still rather somberly. "Juvia's fine. What happens between her and Gray-sama is her business. Why don't you ask him anyway?" The pregnant mage began closing the door on her, but was stopped by Lucy holding the door, refusing to let her friend isolate herself anymore.

"Because I care about you, Juvia, the whole guild does, and we just want to make you're okay."

The blue haired girl gave in and opened the door up wider and let the blonde in.

"Tea?" She asked and didn't wait for an answer as she headed towards the kitchen. Most didn't know it, but her 'hospitality' was really just a stalling technique and she took her sweet time with it, especially on these occasions.

When she re-entered the room, she saw that Lucy looked disturbed by the massive amounts of clutter that had built up. The water mage wasn't the type to neglect cleaning her space, so it was highly unusual for it to look the way it did, like a pigsty.

Ignoring the Spirit mage's reaction she handed her the cup and sat down to address the main topic of conversation "Juvia's fine, really, but if you must know, Gray-sama and her just got in a little argument."

Lucy frowned. "I'm so sorry, if you don't mind me asking, what was it about? He seemed _really _upset."

Juvia nodded her head. "That's to be expected. He wasn't very happy about the news." She admitted, opening up more than she originally planned. Now that she was at odds with Gray, she realized it didn't matter to her whether Lucy knew or not. Things couldn't possibly get worse.

The blonde's curiosity was piqued. "Why? What's going on, Juvia?"

The girl took her time formulating a response. Despite having told the news to several people already, it never got easier, because when it was said out loud, she had to abandon her fantasy world to face yet another 'pregnant' interaction with a clueless soul.

"Juvia's pregnant." She said, plain and simple.

Lucy spit out the tea she was sipping. "WHAT?!" The liquid sprayed onto the carpet.

Juvia, who would normally have a fit about the mess , didn't feel like cleaning it up at the moment and let it be. Instead, she let her process the news. She figured out after telling enough people that it was best to let them go through the shock before trying to explain the _real_ jaw dropper.

"_So that's why Natsu was….._" Lucy caught herself. She didn't want Juvia knowing that one of the hidden reasons she came over was because Natsu had been acting very fishy to her, being disproportionately concerned about Juvia. She knew Natsu and there had to be something behind his sudden concern.

The blunette cocked her head to the side."What?" She inquired.

Lucy smiled. "Oh, nothing." Her expression then changed to one which expressed complete shock. "But wait a second, y-y-you're pregnant? You're serious? _That's _what you guys were fighting about? That jerk! He was mad at you because you're pregnant?"

"No, trust me Lucy-san, he was right to be. Juvia deceived him and let him believe she was innocent the whole time."

"W-what do you mean? He's just as responsible for what happened right?"

The water mage shook her head. "Juvia is just confused."

"Why?'

The pregnant mage sighed. She didn't want to have to go through this again, especially now that it made even less sense than it did before. "There is a lot to explain, but basically Juvia went into a hotel room." She paused. "With Lyon."

As she said it the pregnant girl flinched slightly due to a mild form of though she should have seen it coming, it still hurt to replay the scene of Gray reacting to this statement in her head again. So much of her world revolved around the man, and having done this to him made her feel like trash.

Lucy eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. It was the same familiar face that Juvia had seen a million times before. "You mean to say that you..?"

"Yes, that's right. But…."

"Gray-sama, he-" The girl couldn't help but hesitate.

"What is it Juvia?"

"He says he was the one who slept with Juvia, but she only remembers being with Lyon-sama." She crinkled her forehead as her mind tried to latch onto any form of common sense.

The celestial spirit's mages eye bugged out even more as if to say 'there's more?!' There had been a lot of times in Lucy's life when she had been shocked. There was when she found out Natsu was the Salamander, when she realized that Gildarts was Cana's father, Lisanna being alive, and the list went on.

Juvia being pregnant had definitely made the list. However, Juvia being unsure of who the father was, that one didn't make the list. _That_ one made a mockery of the list, it made _the list_ seem like nothing but the daily _to do_ list., a totally and utterly predictable and ordinary concept.

" So…wait…you don't even remember…..?"

"Yes, Juvia knows. It doesn't make sense, Gray-sama would never lie but, that night, he wasn't even around! He is _nowhere _in Juvia's memories!" The girl could feel the frustration begin to build up once again inside, bubbling towards the surface.

When the ice mage first told her that she had slept with him, she couldn't comprehend what he was saying, it didn't register in the least of ways. Now, what the delayed reaction had caused her to feel anger at herself for not being able to figure out for herself what was truth and what was a lie.

"Hey calm down, can you explain to me a little better?"

"Juvia _should_ be able to remember Gray-sama! How could she forget a night like that?! And what's more….Juvia remembers Lyon-sama being there _very_ clearly! She can recall it perfectly. We were drunk when we decided to go back to the hotel. Juvia remembers starting to take off her clothes and…."

"So you remember having sex?"

Juvia shifted around on the couch cushion, making a creaking sound, and shook her head, with uncertainty. "No. but if she went that far….there's no turning back right?" How could something so black and white, be so hard to grasp? If she had slept with Lyon, she had slept with Lyon. If she had slept with Gray, then she had slept with Gray, end of story. But nothing seemed to quite add up perfectly, there were so many holes to fill in her memory, that it was scary.

Lucy couldn't conceal her confusion. Confusion. That must've been the theme lately.

"Right?" The pregnant mage repeated herself, hoping that maybe Lucy could help her figure this out, though that wasn't a realistic expectation.

"Uhhhhhh….well, it _is_ a little more unlikely, but I think what's more important is when did Gray come into all of this?" It was the same question she had had. But she didn't ask Gray to elaborate at the time he made his claim.

Lucy didn't get it. Of course not. Why would somebody who was less involved than all three of them understand the situation better?

The water mage put her hands up to her face. "I don't know! But Gray-sama is so angry with Juvia! He is not happy with her behavior. Juvia has betrayed him and deceived him! Now he knows her secret and is upset with her. Do you think…" Her eyebrows curved into a forlorned expression. "He wants Juvia to have an abortion?"

"No! I don't think he would want you to do that, especially if that's not what you want."

"But…you should have seen him. He has nothing but bad feelings about this….and her." She said rubbing her hand over her belly.

The celestial spirit mage thought for a moment before replying. "If I know Gray, he's not mad that your pregnant. He's probably more concerned about you." She laughed warmly, trying to comfort the distressed pregnant mage. "You can't help that you're, uh… fertile."

"But Juvia doesn't know if he' s the father or not. He must think she is a SLUT!" She wailed, hands pressed against her cheeks. She lowered her voice a little."And how could a slut make a good mother?" She directed the question mostly at herself, taking all the blame.

"No, no, no! You're not a slut! I don't think that, and neither does Gray! " to further her reassurance she continued. "Juvia, you're going to make a _great _mother. People get drunk and do crazy things all the time! That doesn't make you a slut, you just happened to suffer worse consequences than most. You were a victim of chance, and it can't be helped now."

The blunette looked up and made direct eye contact with her blonde friend, hopeful eyes glistening with tears of happiness. "You really think so?"

"Of course!" She reassured her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me, Gray cares about you _a lot_. If he didn't, there's no way this would upset him so much! You should be _happy _he's upset with you!" The celestial Spirit Mage knew it was a desperate way to put a positive spin on it all, but she didn't have any others ideas about what she could say, so she had said the first thing that popped into her head.

_What were you thinking Lucy?! Of course it's not a good thing that he's mad at her! Not to her at least!_

She held her breath for Juvia's response, hoping she hadn't taken it the wrong way.

Juvia wore a blank stare before forming a wide grin. "Gray-sama was _very_ mad." She said, happy with this new take on it. "Juvia thought for a second he wanted to hurt her! He must care for Juvia a lot then!" She exclaimed, excitedly, nearly giddy at the prospect of it.

Lucy's inner self let out a 'phew' although it felt a little weird that Juvia was getting excited about the idea of Gray wanting to get violent with her. Why did she have to give the three year old matches to play with? But since it worked nonetheless, she kept going along with it. "He does." Lucy nodded her head in agreement, trying to contain her laughter.

"Juvia must go find Gray-sama right away!" The blue haired girl announced.

_Uh oh!_

"Oh, I think he's by himself right now. I mean, it might not be such a great idea to talk to him just yet." She tried to reason. The last the spirit mage had seen of Gray, he had been drunk,_ not_ the best timing to try and fix things. If a sober Gray had a temper, she couldn't imagine him drunk when he was upset. It wouldn't be pretty.

The water mage sighed, calming herself down "I guess Juvia will wait then."

"He just needs some time to re-evaluate everything. I'm sure if you're patient he'll come around and talk to you when he's ready. But Juvia-"

"What?"

"I really think you should see the doctor if you're passing out while flat ironing, if that _is _what really happened that is."

The blue haired girl then remembered that she still had a burn and picked up the cloth again, pressing it against her face."Juvia was not lying! But anyways, she is supposed to get regular check-ups anyways, so she'll talk to the doctor about it."

"Good! and…. I know you're still kind of distracted by all of this baby business, but you should probably keep it a little cleaner in here." She said, watching a cockroach scurry across the floor.

"Umm… Juvia's supposes she _should_ get to that." She agreed.

* * *

"LYON!"

The doors of the Lamia Scale guild swung open as a fuming Gray Fullbuster entered inside in search of his enemy. He spotted him seated with his usual posse, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed. he stood up at the sight of his former fellow student of Ur's. Every mouth in the building was sealed shut to see what all the fuss was about, even Sherry stopped making out with Ren in response to the commotion.

The dark haired ice mage marched over to where he was at, all puffed up.

"Gray." The light haired ice mage remained a stoic appearance, though well aware of why the other man was here.

"Lyon."

For one civilized moment, Gray seemed as if he was going to try and resolve this calmly. "You must have a death wish, you bastard."

Obviously he was _anything but _calm.

The dark haired ice mage was glad their master wasn't around to oppose the confrontation. Perfect timing. Not wanting to waste anymore time, he reached out and swung the most loaded punch he'd ever thrown at Lyon's face. The blow surprised him for sure, although he had been expecting him to become aggressive at some point, he didn't didn't expect so soon.

Lyon bared his fangs. "Are you drunk?! Because you just made the wrong choice, Gray." With that he threw a punch back with as much, if not more force.

Gray took the blow to his face and stood frozen for a minute.

The rest of the guild were baffled by this random display of aggression between two mages who barely came in contact with each other to boot. Even Lyon's main group of followers seemed to not have a clue as to what was going on. They all exchanged glances and found that none had any idea what this was about. An ominous feeling filled the air, and all who were witness to the growing tension between the two, were anxious for them.

Chelia, who was distressed by the whole rushed over to her idol's side. "Lyon! What's going on?!"

He turned towards the pink haired girl. "Chelia! Stay out of this! You aren't involved." He commanded sternly, causing the god slayer to take one last look at Gray and shrink back, obediently removing herself from the scene.

"So you r_eally_ intended to just keep your little scheme a secret?" Gray questioned accusingly, ignoring them.

The light haired ice mage looked lost. "I'd humor you, but I don't know what the hell you're talking about." He replied, irritated at the accusation that he was "scheming".

That did it. "Shut the FUCK up! Don't you _dare_ act like you have no idea what's going on!"

"Let's not do this here." He said calmly. "It's not an appropriate place." He hadn't told anyone from Lamia about the pregnancy, he hadn't thought there was any urgency to.

"I don't honestly care where the hell we are! I want the truth NOW! What did you do to Juvia?!What's all this shit she's talking about?!

"I see she's told you. Well, what's done is done and nothing about it can change. Face it Gray, _you_ drove her away from you and now this is the consequence you have to live with."

That did it. "Drove her away?! She's pregnant and thinks _you're_ the father! How the hell is this my fault?!" At this heavy accusation, unanimous gasps could be heard everywhere. A few of the Lamia Scale's members clasped a hand over their mouths, Chelia and Sherry included of course. Nobody had seen this coming.

"Ly-" Chelia tried, still keeping her distance, but was cut off.

"Quiet!" He barked at the pink haired girl without taking his eyes of Gray. "Thinks?" He scoffed. " She doesn't 'think' anything. Just accept the facts." He corrected, still rather stoically.

"Are you really that desperate that you have to go so low as to play with her head?" Gray shot back.

"I have to say, I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't have that sort of power, Gray. She's pregnant, that's an undeniable fact. Let's be honest; what would I gain in making her believe such a thing? Though it may be painful, she hasn't returned my feelings despite her motherhood status. Though, I can't understand why she still hangs onto an asshole like you."

That was not what the raven haired man wanted to hear."If I hear one more piece of shit out of that fucking mouth I swear I'll-"

"You'll what?! Fight me?! Go ahead and try! You know you can't win against me!" Out of all the mages, nobody tried to intervene. It was intimidating to get involved in something as emotionally charged as this. If there were ever an unforgivable act between males, it was messing with the other's girl, in any way whatsoever.

"I have before and I WILL now! I'll expose you for the scum of a liar you are! There's no WAY you could get her pregnant that inchworm you call a penis!" Drunken Gray taunted.

Lyon's cheeks wore a scarlet hue as some of his own guild members began to snicker. What betrayal.

He pointed a finger at the cocky raven haired man. "How dare you make a mockery of me! YOU'RE just sour that you weren't even _worthy_ to make it in bed with her! If I'm the one who's small, then why are you so afraid of her?!" He retorted. "You're not MAN enough to own up to your feelings for my sweet Juvia-chan!

"I think you need a fact check BASTARD! It's time we settled things, once and for all!"

The silver haired mage couldn't come up with words to describe what he was trying to process right now. He knew Gray wouldn't be happy about him getting Juvia pregnant, but he didn't expect him to flat out _deny_ that it was true.

"Stop playing around! You're in denial!"

"LYOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNN!" Came the infuriated man's roar.

The dark haired ice mage put a fist to his palm, ready to take drastic measures, somebody was going to have to suffer, and it wasn't him.

"ICE-MAAAAAAKE….!"

* * *

**A/N:** Uh oh! Boys :O Their testosterone's a little too high huh? They want to kill each other. I cannot speak of love in this situation. Sorry, I was being Chelia/Sherry for a second.

But seriously, nobody knows how to communicate in my story, so it's kind of like…. dramatic irony maybe?

On a side note, who do you guys think Silver is? Personally I think he _must_ be connected to Gray somehow. His name is Silver…..? And then there's _Gray?_ See what I'm saying? I think it'd be pretty cool, if they were related somehow.

But maybe not. I guess we'll see, but you know, I always thought it was really weird how he had that whole darkness thing about Deliora and his parents. But now, he only thinks about Ur? Sorry, random thought. But Mashima does weird things, like, remember Lisanna?

Please don't give up on giving me feedback! You can be honest too. For those who do, I can't thank you enough!xoxo


	10. Square One Hundred

**A/N:** To be honest I almost couldn't do this chapter because I HATE to write fights. Even though there's a lot of fights throughout Fairy Tail…. I'm going to tell you a secret…. *_I don't pay attention*_. That means I don't remember their moves or even how they won sometimes. Shameful, I know, but I care more about the emotional conflicts and dialogue more than the actual fighting.

I don't know squat! The extent my knowledge goes is that I know Gray uses static ice make magic (objects) and Lyon does more of the dynamic (animals). I had to re-read and re-watch some of their fights to remember what they use for attacks. So go easy okay? This is _not_ my strong area.

But you know what I always wondered? Why is there no blood in the anime? There's a scene in the earlier ones where Gray's like, "I've gotta patch up this wound!" and I'm just thinking, "what wound?"

* * *

"YOU WANNA RUN THAT BY ME ONE MORE TIME, YOU FUCKING BASTARD?! ICE MAKE LANCE!"

Almost too easily, Lyon dodged the first attack. Gray was drunk, therefore the silver haired mage figured he wasn't too keen at judging spacial measurements at the moment. He had presented himself to fight in the worst possible condition.

"Which part? The part where I got Juvia pregnant or the part where I SLEPT WITH HER?!" He shot back, tauntingly. "ICE MAKE EAGLE!"

The attack was easily blocked. "ICE MAKE SHIELD!" Lyon stood there, having barely lifted a finger and Why are you using that old move on me? You haven't advanced after all this time?"

The light haired mage scoffed, wearing a slight smirk. "I was trying to go easy on you in case you came to your senses at the last moment." He put his hands together again. "But I guess you're not that smart."

"ICE MAKE SNOW DRAGON!"

Gray took the hit, and cried out in pain, but quickly stood back up as if nothing had happened and formed a move of his his own. "ICE MAKE FREEZE LANCER!" The dynamic ice make mage fell over and bleed from the affected areas.

_Or is Gray in his best condition? _He was moving quicker than usual, and he'd also improved his reaction time, despite his lack of good aim. He had better pain tolerance as well, it seemed. It'd been a while since he'd battled his rival one on one, but still he had no idea he'd grown this much.

"How the FUCK can you _possibly _even _claim_ to have slept with her on the SAME EXACT NIGHT AS I DID?!"

Lyon's eyes shifted upwards furrowing his eyebrows at the same time, thinking about what Gray just said. Once, it fully hit home, he was unresponsive for a second, but quickly snapped out of it to laugh at Gray.

"You call _me_ desperate!?" He said, lightly gesturing himself. "YOU'RE so desperate you have to make up some ridiculous story about having your way with her on the same night!? PATHETIC!"

All around the guild, people were whispering amongst themselves. However, those closest to the Lamia Scale ice mage were completely taken by surprise by this sudden battle between the two ice mages.

It's not that Gray and Lyon never fought, but it all happened so quickly. The Fairy Tail mage had just waltzed right through the door and challenged their friend, seemingly out of nowhere. And then there were the crazy claims each other were making.

How the hell was it even possible that they were arguing over who slept with Juvia Lockser on the very same night? It made no sense. Although what did make sense was why Juvia had arrived weeks before asking for Lyon's address, little did they know it was to inform him she was pregnant.

Chelia was the first among his main lackies to say anything. "What are they talking about!?" she asked the others frantically. Not only did she hate to see the senseless fighting, but she felt a twinge of jealousy when hearing the water mage's name spoken."She loves that Gray guy!" she whined, unable to even say the name.

Toby shook his head and pushed his hands against the sides of his head. "WHAT!? Lyon got that girl from Fairy Tail pregnant?!HOLY CRAP!"

"Shhhhh!' Yuka shushed them. "Be quiet, both of you. We don't know that. This is confusing to me too." He said, musing. Lyon hadn't said anything about this before, but what was really strange about it all was that he seemed hesitant and unsure of himself. Most wouldn't notice it, but in between insults, the conversation gave way to a slight pause, as Lyon seemed to be over analyzing their statements; both his own and Gray's.

Knowing their past, it seemed natural for Lyon to automatically assume an opposing role to his rival, whether or not what the other man said was true.

"Are you saying he's lying!?" Chelia asked the small man, hopefully, though aware that the explanation was all too simple.

He hesitated. "No… but we don't fully understand what the situation is yet. There could be something we're missing." He said matter of factly. Though he was equally confused, it was the only sure thing he could say. "But really, Chelia, you're too young for him and besides, it's none of your business." The blue haired man added. It couldn't be helped, the girl was chasing waterfalls and on a fast track to heartbreak. It was a miracle for Lyon to notice any other girl besides Juvia, let alone a fifteen year old.

"Hey!" The pink haired girl frowned at his discouraging comment but continued to watch the fight in silence, hoping to get some form of explanation from their ongoing argument. Gray was still ranting on his end.

"Honestly I have no idea what the hell is going on in that screwed up head of yours, but I thought you changed! Why are you doing this to to me!? Why are you doing this to Juvia!?"

"I think you need to ask yourself that question, Gray. Tell me, where _were_ you on that night?! Because I don't recall you even you even being AT the celebration!"

Gray refused to accept that Lyon was making him out to be an insane liar. Who was he to accuse him of being what if anything, the elder ice mage himself was. "That's really none of your business, but I don't understand, are you THIS shameless?! ICE MAKE shotgun!"

This time Lyon was able to maneuver his way out the attacks range. "I love Juvia, and that's why you should believe me when I say that I didn't do anything to alter her mind! I already told you I don't have that ability!"

Uncaring whether it was a lie or not, Gray focused on the part that urked him the most. "How can you say you love her?! ICE MAKE BATTLE AXE!"

Lyon dodged once again, the other man's vision still being skewed from the alcohol. "Gray, you couldn't have slept with her, you weren't around. So your story doesn't make any sense." He bent over slightly, catching his breath. "I'll be honest, I don't remember _all _the details, much like Juvia, but can you tell me how it's possible that I had her _naked_ in bed with me and yet somehow _you_ impregnated her?"

His confession came as somewhat of a shock to Gray. The dark haired man couldn't find the right words to express his anger and annoyance at the other man's arrogant behavior. He was so sure Lyon was straight out lying, but it was puzzling; why would he admit any doubt in the matter? If he was going to claim that Juvia had been naked with him, why not claim an entire memory of sleeping with her?

Unless there was a motive he was unaware of, it didn't make sense, but it had tipped the scale in his favor in the younger man's eyes since it gave his story more of a chance. "You're saying that you don't even _remember_ sleeping with her!? Then why do you proclaim me to be a liar with such confidence!?"

He had mentioned Juvia as well. _She doesn't remember it either? _Come to think of it she had acted confused as well, but she hadn't clarified that she didn't remember any actual sex. She had stated it as fact, without any doubt, that Lyon was indeed the father.

"I didn't say that! I can clearly remember us being together, so don't get your hopes up."

"Stop beating around the bush! DID you or did you NOT sleep with her?! You're changing your story Lyon!"

The silence in the room was infectious, every mouth sealed shut, awaiting their guild member's reply. It came as a shock to most when it appeared he didn't have one.

"What's the matter can't hold your lie together?! Here's what I have on you, I DO remember sleeping with her! So it's time you shut that FUCKING mouth of yours! Why do you always think you have the upper hand? The only thing keeping the truth obscured here is you. So why don't you…"

"Does she remember?" He asked calmly.

"What?"

"Does she remember you?"

Gray coughed up a small amount of blood."What are you getting at?! All that matters is that I KNOW we slept together!

"Then why do you proclaim _me _a liar so confidently? How do you know she didn't sleep with both of us."

This conversation was going in circles. "That's absurd! ICE MAKE UNLIMITED: ONE SIDED CHAOTIC DANCE!" There it was; his second origin. He trapped Lyon, much to the latter's surprise and took out his next move. "ICE MAKE BRINGER!"

Lyon was unable to dodge, being that he was encased in ice, and took the blows. However, It still wasn't enough to completely take him out , though he was impressed. " If I remember correctly you used something like this on Rufus Lore at the games, isn't that right?" He slowly stood to his feet, wobbling. "It's a good move, though not good enough for me. You're lucky our battle was tag team. Had it not been…."

He put his hands together and formed one of his favorite moves. "ICE MAKE WATER SERPENT!"

Surprised by his quick recovery from the attack, the dark haired mage reacted too slowly to dodge the attack and took a hard blow, which flung him into the air and landed him on the ground. The other man continued his sentence "You would have most DEFINITELY lost!"

Laying on the ground trying defy the pain, Gray spoke. "You're wrong. That fight worked out the way it should have….because of both of us." He pulled himself back up. "But that doesn't mean I couldn't have taken you by yourself." Trying to catch his breath, he continued. "There's only thing about this I know; I am the father of that baby. So that means…" He put his fist to his palm again. "either you're lying, or you've _really_ gone off the deep end." He took another deep breath. "But either way….. she will NEVER love you!"

Though his words cut deep, Lyon tried to keep his composure. He feared his reputation would be shot should he break down over such a thing. Men didn't cry, and they especially didn't cry in front of their rivals. Instead he put his hands together in the form of an ice make move. However, before forming anything, he put his hands down and let the ice dissipate.

There wasn't a move in his maker magic that could properly accomplish what he wanted to do. The man made eye contact with Gray and lurched forward towards him at full force, not even sure what he was planning to do.

The other man, stood readying himself for defense.

Once Lyon was only a few feet away from his enemy an abrupt force stopped him in his tracks. The floor moved and bent beneath them and caused the ice mages to lose their balance. Looking to see what it was, they found themselves looking at what was, the life saving obstacle between them."The one with the stronger conviction wins; that is why neither of you will emerge the victor. There is no honor to your conviction!" Came a familiar booming voice from a humble man.

"Jura!" The ice mages yelled simultaneously. and turned their attention to the man who stood between them, keeping his eye on both of them in case they made another move. The ten wizard saint didn't choose fights too often and to show his disapproval of a fight was rare, so their duel must've been one that he wholeheartedly disagreed with, especially for him to go against his own guild mate.

Both the ice mages respected Jura, so they held back from doing as they desired.

"Did you really come down here just to pick a fight Gray-dono?"

"I'm fighting for Juvia, and the justice she deserves!" Gray reasoned. "This idiot is using any loose ends he can find to make up some crazy shit!"

"You took the words right out of my mouth!" Lyon growled.

"You two are fighting out of your possessive feelings for the girl; even I can see that! Your not doing her any favors by trying to rip each other's guts out!" The two took in his simple, yet sage advice and felt the shame sink in. "I may not fully understand what this is about, but fighting like this cannot be the answer, it's not righteous anger. SO OWN UP TO YOUR DISHONOR!"

They knew he was right. Both were Ur's pupil's and had agreed long ago that they weren't truly enemies, in fact they were family in a way. Yet, their inner turmoil had caused them to forget all of that, against their teacher's wishes.

Seeing that the two had reduced their threatening body language, the ten wizard saint relaxed more. Chelia, rushed over to the silver haired mage to begin healing his wounds, but not before falling and tripping first. "Owww..."

Gray could see it, the feelings were mutual. Anger overshadowed their bond from childhood. Feeling the still present tension, the younger ice mage grunted and began trudging towards the exit, in order to remove himself from the temptation to be reckless. He wanted to obliterate the murderous emotions within him, but they still lingered, unwilling to be defeated so easily.

Before walking out, however, he left his rival with a last statement. "This burden is mine. Don't come to Magnolia again. All you do is cause trouble for me _and_ her. If you really love her, you'll stay out of this." He hated saying that word, _"love_", Lyon didn't love her, it was only lust as far as he could tell.

"Gray, wait! Don't leave, you need your wounds healed!" Chelia called out to him, beside a bruised and bleeding Lyon.

The exhausted ice mage ignored the girl and made his way out, trying the best he could to stay on his feet. Staying any longer wasn't a smart idea, at least in his opinion. Besides, the alcohol was beginning to wear off, and he needed more if he were to survive the remainder of the day.

"Focus on him, he needs it more than me." He told her, despite the fact that he was just as, if not more banged up. After leaving he found a nearby resting place and sealed up his own wounds artificially, planning on receiving better help from Wendy once arriving home. He felt bad about doing all of this behind Juvia's back, but he couldn't see her, not until his feelings of aggression subsided.

* * *

Days had passed since the fight, and it had been even longer since Gray was first informed about the pregnancy. The water mage was becoming impatient. She still hadn't heard from him and it was beginning to worry her. When she had asked Erza about him, all she said was that he needed to work some things out.

Confident that she had waited long enough, Juvia headed down to his usual thinking spot. Like one of those scenes from a romance movie, she had ran to where he was, without stopping in order to be reunited with her love. She was incredibly out of breath at this point. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for a pregnant woman to run so far, even in the early stages.

Seeing him sitting there, unaware of her presence, he reminded Juvia of a famous philosopher, accessing the deepest recesses of his mind, to find an explanation, any explanation for why this was happening to him. The statue "The thinker" came mind, although surprisingly, Gray wasn't naked, which would have completed the resemblance to a tee.

"Gray-sama!"

He knew that voice and upon hearing it, was surprised. The ice mage was unsure what he felt for her at the moment, but when he turned around, he saw a beautiful woman standing onthe rocks above him, the wind blowing her long blue locks of hair. With the longing look in her cerulean eyes, he could see a little bit of her old self shining through. She seemed to have a glow about her and gave off a vibe that he couldn't explain, and almost as if it was divine in nature he felt all of the inner anguish and peril disappear.

The man had always wanted her to be mature and act her age, but what he realized was that if it meant she had to be in pain it wasn't worth it. It was _much_ better for her to be her sweet, naive self than to be bogged down with the worries that had made this new side of her so heartbreaking to see. He thought he would still feel anger towards her, but it didn't overtake him the way he thought it would.

"Juvia."

Seeing that he seemed more on the sober side, she carefully made her way down towards him, trying to avoid slipping. This place was so familiar; she had talked with him there once before, and she remembered that it hurt to do so.

The pregnant woman made a declaration over the sound of the crashing waters. "Juvia can't take this. She can't stand being at odds with you; it's not right! It's not right at all!" The girl didn't hold back as she sat down right next to him only inches away and looked him in the eyes, looking for what Lucy had told her about. Did his anger really come from his love for her? If it did…. then maybe they had hope after all. Maybe their future wasn't doomed; they could work things out, and everything would all be alright.

"You have some nerve coming and finding me after all that crap you dumped on me." He said avoiding eye contact with her, still holding his injured arm. It had been patched up, but still hurt like hell.

Her heart sunk, but only momentarily as he continued his response. "Juvia, why did you keep all of this from me? Are you _that_ afraid of me?-" He grimaced at the thought. He tried to choose his words carefully, _especially _with how close they were to the water. If there was one thing that could be defined as a major pet peeve for the man, it was being soaked, which happened a lot with the water mage.

"Of course not, Juvia would never be afraid of Gray-sama! But, why are you holding your arm?" She frowned as the worry in her gut began to come to the surface.

"Oh this? It's nothing." He said, like it _was _nothing while also trying to hide his leg from her view, which, ironically directed her attention to it.

"Gray-sama what about your leg? It looks injured also!" As she spoke, it became more obvious to her; that he had gotten in a fight.

"Juvia….."

"Gray-sama! Please! What happened?" She pleaded for an explanation,alarmed at his hesitation to give her one. The expression on her face was blank and her voice, robotic sounding when she realized. "You fought with Lyon-sama, didn't you?"

The silence spoke for him.

"Didn't you?!" She questioned.

He didn't look at her. She was right; he did pick a fight with Lyon, out of pure frustration and selfishness among other things.

"Look, at it from my position; I'm the father of your child and another guy is claiming that _he_ is. Isn't that enough justification?"

She shook her head, with regret that she couldn't find any justice in what he'd done. The blue haired girl wasn't exactly happy about the confusion either, but she didn't feel that Lyon needed to be Gray's personal punching bag in reaction to his frustration.

"No?" He closed his eyes and gave a smile. "Didn't think so."

The confused pregnant girl wanted to say something but couldn't think of exactly what it was she wanted to say.

"He'll be alright." He chuckled a little. "Yep, that bastard will be alright. He's probably trying to process what just happened this very second. You know, as much as I want to believe he knows what's going on… I think he's just as confused as we are."

He picked up a larger stone and purposefully aimed it down into the ocean, splashing him a little. He had given up on the girly stone skipping. "So if _he_ doesn't, who does?" He looked up at Juvia, half expecting some sort of bizarre last minute confession; but it didn't come. The man had all the evidence in the world to support his claim.

He had a fully functional memory, and no doubts concerning that matter whatsoever, it even made sense in accordance with all other means of logic. But, he couldn't control her point of view. He couldn't control what was in her head, what she remembered of the night.

"When Juvia first went to see Lyon-sama about the baby…" the pregnant mage began, cautiously. "she didn't sense any ill will in him."

"So you don't think he's still trying to win you?" The ice mage asked, doubtfully.

"I'm not saying that…. but I don't think he would go that far."

He'd come the same conclusion, but that also didn't make anything clearer "You're right." He admitted. "You know, he told me he really didn't remember sleeping with you. That'd be too risky of a confession for a man who wants to create a solid story."

"He told Juvia he doesn't remember too." She added.

The dark haired man's eye met hers."You really don't remember, do you?"

The mutual eye contact soon turned into Juvia staring into his dark eyes in a trance. They were so mesmerizing that she tried to break away from their grip, but still she felt a familiar feeling wash over her. In all the weeks following the Magic Games, she had not once truly looked at his eyes, rather, she looked past them whenever she was forced into contact with them. What a strange thing to finally look into them and find that they had changed; they said more than they ever had before.

Like a record player, the image in her head kept playing and repeating, never moving past the original sequence. His eyes looking at her pathetically out of desperation. They sought an answer that she couldn't give. Such a deja vu, but when had she ever had such a moment with him? The pregnant mage felt like her mind was betraying her, throwing her for a loop at every turn of events.

The man in front had told her that he slept with her, something she couldn't begin to comprehend as being possible. Yet, she didn't question his honesty, rather, she questioned the very reliability of the human brain.

Reality had chosen to cover its tracks and leave the three of them desperate and fighting for peace of mind. There was a feeling within her that those weren't just eyes she had seen on any average day. She had seen them in a different scenario.

But the memory of Lyon touching her was still as clear as ever. That didn't change. In comparison to it, any Gray-related memory from the night seemed too far from her reach.

What they were left with was Gray's word, her "feelings", Lyon's memories, and her memories.

"Gray-sama di-?" She stopped and tried to pick it back up again. "I mean… how did you find Juvia that night? I don't remember you anywhere during the celebration…"

Lyon had pointed out the same thing. It was true; he hadn't been there, and he regretted that he wasn't. Otherwise, this craziness might've never happened.

Unfortunately, aside from Ultear's powers, there was no way to erase what had happened, and there was no way to prove Juvia didn't sleep with Lyon if he hadn't been there at the exact moment to know what fucked up bull they were talking about.

"Juvia?"

"What?"

"How are you?" The question was simple but made the girl feel something stir within her. Something she hadn't felt for a while. Just for him to ask about her well-being re-awakened her fangirl side from deep within.

"Fine. But Juvia's so happy that you care to ask!" She clasped her hands together.

He ignored the hearts in her eyes. "How about your... baby?"

She calmed down a little. "She's fine too."

He scratched his head. _She?_ But since he didn't want to forget what he wanted to say, he ignored the detail. "What's that mark on your face from?"

She had forgotten about that. The scar had faded, but was still visible to the eye. "Oh this? Juvia fainted on her flat iron, but don't worry she went to the doctor to ask about it."

_She owns a flat iron?_

"It's not threatening really, the doctor says it's just because…" She didn't want him to feel any blame. "Of all the stress. She wanted me to avoid any high stress situations if possible. It's not anything yet, but Juvia can develop umm…. *_what was it called?*_ Oh yes, pre-ecclampsia, if things get worse anyway."

Gray smiled. "You got high blood pressure, huh? But you still decided to come find me?" It felt good to know the old Juvia was still in there somewhere, buried under the other crap piled on top. Though he was opposed to it, she always put him before her. It was a sign that she really was the same person.

"Gray-sama's not high stress. He calms Juvia. She can feel her blood pressure stabilizing by the second!"

The dark haired man let out a loud laugh. "You don't know what's good for you." His tone became more solemn. "You're lucky you caught me sober."

"Am I? But you can be fun if you're drunk sometimes."

_Little minx. _"What are you talking about? You don't see me drunk that often."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, enough to know anyways."

"I'm not an alcoholic." He stated, rather defensively. "You've just really done a number on me."

The blue haired girl giggled. "Juvia knows that, but she never misses it when you are even if you're just slightly buzzed!"

"Okay, whatever." He gave in, but couldn't help but wonder how he had avoided any sexual escapades with her before _the_ escapade, considering how she had always been read at the drop of a hat to venture into that territory with him.

Despite this, he didn't consider her to be easy, since it was rare for a girl to be so faithful to somebody who may or may not have feelings for her. Any typical girl would've moved on by now, at least in his experience. She wouldn't settle for anyone else, because for some unknown cause she only had eyes for him.

Nobody had ever been so persistent, nobody had ever had such determination to make a relationship with him work. Easy? Not in the slightest. If anything she was difficult; there was no man that could take her from him. Nothing that happened could change the way he saw her, even if she saw herself that way. Juvia was who she was, a sucker for the "true love" hoax.

Oh yeah… what about real life? Lately it had been too easy to fall into "wonderland" with Juvia and forget that other people existed. "By the way, just so I know, have you told anybody else?"

"Oh, um, well, you know, once one person finds out sometimes it's hard to keep it a secret…"

The dark haired man narrowed his eyes. "Everyone at the guild knows, don't they?" He hoped it was a no, but he also knew better than to expect that to be the answer.

She nodded her head, though she didn't mention that she didn't bring up the whole real father fiasco. Instead, she let everyone assume that it was Gray's since no one directly asked her of course. The only members who knew the whole story, were Lucy, Natsu (which included Happy), Gajeel, Erza, and Gray, of course.

The tired mage buried his face in his hand and groaned. "What did you say? Never mind don't tell me; I don't wanna know."

Once again the water mage giggled. She went to lay her head down against his chest, but then stopped herself._ Was it too soon to be affectionate with him?_

The man took notice of her self control and formed a half smile. He couldn't harbor negative feelings towards her, especially when he was partially at fault through all of it."Go ahead, I don't mind."

Nothing in the world meant more than Gray's acceptance to the water mage. But she took it a step further and gave him a kiss on the lips. It took him by surprise, but he didn't react, and seeing this, she didn't stop. He was past the stage of feeling awkward about displays of affection, rather he was blasted full speed out of that stage when he first slept with her. Still, her swift actions always caught him off guard, no matter how many times it had happened before.

He let her keep kissing as long as she wanted, and returned the effort. They had to start somewhere after all, if she were to figure out the truth for herself. The man wouldn't give up until she had no doubt in her mind that he was the real parent.

But memories or not, he decided he liked it. She was unpredictably predictable; a unique and beautiful combination.

But it seemed they were back to square one...or was it square one hundred? They hadn't accomplished anything...

Or had they?

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you liked the chapter, especially since I waited a little longer than usual to put it out. If you don't, I'm sorry :(, I'm human and I can't please everyone. This one was mostly Gray's point of view for a change, but the next will probably focus more on Juvia, since, well, she's my favorite.

Also, I'm not 100% if the move I stated was Gray's second origin, but it I think it was. And once again, apologies if anything doesn't make sense. Written half awake.

Anyways, as usual thank you to those who reviewed, followed, and favorited!

And I'll end with my usual plea for feedback!


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